Catholic Charities’ Therapeutic Alternative Shelter Care (TASC) recruiting for foster parents in Carroll County

March 3, 2008

Renee Johnson,
Director of Media and Public Relations
(410) 547-5436, cell (410) 816-6152
rjohnson@cc-md.org

Catholic Charities’ Therapeutic Alternative Shelter Care (TASC) will hold forums throughout Carroll County to inform residents on how to become foster parents for children and families in crisis. The Local Management Board of Carroll County and the Department of Juvenile Services are partnering with TASC in this effort.

TASC initially began in 2001 to address an acute need of the Harford County Juvenile Courts to find appropriate shelter for children of families in crisis. The 30-to-90-day training program prepares foster parents and social workers to help troubled youth (ages 12-21) and their families.

TASC foster parents receive:

ongoing foster parent training
tax-free foster care stipend to financially support the youth
daily case management support of the child and foster family
foster care certification services

Requirements to become a TASC foster parent include:

attend an informational forum
comprehensive pre-service training
CPR and first aid training
Health examination
Home health inspection
Home fire proofing inspection
Comprehensive background check

Forum dates and locations

March 22 12 noon-3 p.m Westminster Branch, Carroll County Public Library, 50 East Main Street, Westminster, MD
April 12 12 noon – 3 p.m. North Carroll Branch, Carroll County Public Library 2255 Hanover Pike, Greenmount, MD

To learn more about TASC, contact Tia Dickson, Community Outreach Specialist at 410-685-2363 ext. 106 or email tdickson@cc-md.org

Catholic Charities is Maryland’s leading private, nonprofit provider of human services. Through cherishing the Divine within all, the Agency serves 160,000 people annually in 80 programs at 200 locations throughout the state. Its 2,000 employees are supported by 10,000 volunteers. In addition, a quarter million meals are served every year to the hungry citizens of Baltimore City.

# # #