New Non-Profit in North Carolina Provides Solution for 2,100 Children Moving into Family Foster Care

New Non-Profit in North Carolina Provides Solution for 2,100 Children Moving
into Family Foster Care

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, four of North
Carolina's nationally-accredited child-placing agencies announce the launching
of a new statewide resource for finding families for children faster. The
collaborative effort, known as Rapid Resource for Families, is in response to
the mandated state closing of group homes and care-based institutions this
past summer, leaving an estimated 2,100 children needing families. Rapid
Resource will be located at the Children and Family Services Center, 601 East
Fifth Street, Charlotte, NC. The new agency will serve child-placing agencies
and workers statewide as a network of available resources.

Earlier this year, the NC Department and Health and Human Services announced
that Level III and Level IV group homes will phase out and children will
transition into therapeutic foster families. To meet the high demand of
children who will need families, four agencies immediately responded to the
task of developing a resource database to help referring agencies find
families in a quick, well-organized way -- Alexander Youth Network, Barium
Springs Home for Children, Easter Seals UCP, and Lutheran Family Services in
the Carolinas. Rapid Resource is a nonprofit entity designed to create a
network of therapeutic foster care and in-home services that ensures high
quality, evidence-based, outcome-driven services and supports. By working with
multiple agencies simultaneously, the intake and placement process is unified
and transparent which allows workers to match children and families more
proficiently.

"As these children move from institutionalized care into families throughout
the state, matching them to quality homes and helping them access the services
they need is a pivotal moment," says Connie Cochran, chair of the Rapid
Resource board of directors. "We are faced with a unique opportunity. By
reaching across the problem and working together, we are bridging the gap for
these children with an innovative solution."

Rapid Resources is an innovative approach to improving efficiency for
referring organizations that need placements and improves the process for the
partnering agencies as well as their clients. "I often have to call several
agencies until I can find a placement for a child," says social worker Ryan
Shuford. "Rapid Resource will provide a faster way for me to find the right
home for a child."

For more information about Rapid Resource for Families or the partnering
agencies please call Nettie Lynch, Director of Communications, Alexander Youth
Network, 704.227.9118. For child placement referrals, contact the Rapid
Resource Intake Specialist at 1-888-38-RAPID.

SOURCE Rapid Resource for Families

Nettie Lynch, +1-704-227-9118, nlynch@alexanderyouthnetwork.org, for Rapid
Resource for Families