Agency Seeks Homes for Foster Children

A campaign that began earlier this month to recruit more county residents as foster parents will continue next week with a specially priced holiday play, a free movie and a slice of pie.

The county’s Human Services Agency, which helps children removed from their homes for reasons of abuse, neglect or because a caretaker is an addict or incarcerated, is in the midst of its “50 Homes in 50 Days” campaign.

Sheriff Bob Brooks, county Supervisor Kathy Long, local mayors and others will gather at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Founders Circle for a specially priced matinee of “The Nutcracker.” There will be 200 tickets available at $4 each. The public is welcome.

Free information on foster care training will be available, and foster parents will be on hand to answer questions and describe their experiences.

At 10:30 a.m. Saturday, 50 people who go to the Esplanade Theater in Oxnard will receive free tickets for a movie and a slice of pie. Literature will again be available.

“The holidays are a time when we all think about family. That’s what foster children need more than anything, a family to care about them,” Long said.

Specially discounted play tickets and free movie passes are also available by calling an information hotline at (800) 600-7111 Ext. 275.

The average stay for a child in foster care is between six months and a year. Families who can take children for that length of time are needed most.