As a private agency, Encourage is able to develop connections with public agencies in order to help more children. We currently serve the counties of Ashland, Cuyahoga, Holmes, Knox, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Stark, Richland, Summit, Tuscarawas, Wayne and more.

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Every month, our agency receives dozens of requests for foster homes for youth and siblings from the counties we serve. We frequently turn away up to 80 children every month due to the lack of suitable foster homes. Simply put, we need more foster homes. Although we get referrals for all ages, our greatest NEED is for sibling groups, school-aged children, kids with medical needs and teenagers.

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Today over 24,000 precious hearts have been uprooted, forgotten, abused or neglected in Ohio alone. This is approximately how many children and youth were placed in out-of-home care last year. According to Foster Care Capacity, in 2023 despite the need, there were only 7,347 licensed foster homes.

Below you can see the number of children in foster care in each county we serve from the 2023 PCSAO Fact Book. These numbers are sadly growing.