In Cayuga County, there is a great need for foster parents. Currently 95 children are in foster care in this county. Foster care is temporary care for children who are unable to live with their birth families.

A foster parent is someone who can provide temporary care and love for children who are unable to live with their birth families. A foster parent should be someone who wants to make a difference in a child's life, is flexible and capable of handling stressful situations, can work as a member of a team with birth families, social workers and other professionals, can help prepare a child for return to their birth family or for adoption. Many foster parents are also adoptive parents.

Children of all ages and ethnic groups are in need of caring foster families. Some of our children have handicapping conditions and behavioral challenges and require special care. When brothers and sisters come into care, we want to place them together. Teenage mothers also need homes for themselves and their children. Children in foster care, like all children, need love, affection and guidance.

You can apply to become a foster parent if you are at least 21 years old, are married, single or living with a partner, have sufficient income to meet your own family's needs, are in good health and can make room in your home and heart for children who need safe, temporary care.

Foster care parents receive a monthly stipend to defray the cost of having a foster child in their home, Medicaid, clothing allowance, day care for working families and support services.

If you are interested in applying to become a foster parent, you will need to attend a 10-week training session that is free of charge to all applicants age 21 years and older. Our next training session will begin Sept. 18. For more information or to register, please call 253-1396.

Elane Daly is director of Health and Human Services for Cayuga County. She can be reached

at 253-1560 or cchealth@dfa.state.ny.us