York Region Children's Aid Society is in desperate need of foster parents.

Karen Wright, a supervisor with CAS, says they have seen a decline over the last decade. The organization currently has 111 foster families that they are placing children with.

By way of contrast, there are more children requiring foster care than a decade ago. That has the CAS reaching out to communities to educate about what it takes to get involved.

Foster parents receive on-going training from the CAS.

“It's made us grow. If we had the training we had raising our own children, it would have been a whole lot more helpful for our kids, because we learned so much,” says Bev Mann.

There is no age restriction on becoming a foster parent. Wright says they have some parents who are as young as 25 and some that are in their 70s.

One of the most difficult parts of fostering a child is understanding it's not forever. Anna-Melissa Mann has learned that life lesson, as has her biological daughter.

“She's had the opportunity to have her best friend living in the bedroom next door. Yes she’s going to have to say goodbye at some point and yes there's already been some goodbyes for her, but we all have goodbyes in our life.”

If you’re interested in learning more about what it takes to become a foster parent you can click here.