In response to West Virginia’s growing need for foster parents, Community Care of West Virginia has announced that it is waiving the $75 fee for any physicals provided to potential foster care parents.

Physicals are a legally required part of the application process to certify adults looking to have children placed in their homes.

“While attending a meeting with the West Virginia department of Health and Human Resources, we were informed of the staggering number of West Virginia children in foster care,” explained Richard Simon, CEO of Community care of West Virginia. “Every year this count increases and the resources for finding homes for these children falls behind.”

Community Care of West Virginia immediately implemented a directive to all of its locations to waive the fee for physicals for any individual in the process of becoming a foster parent.

“We felt it necessary to do our part to help expand the number of homes available to children in the system,” said Simon. “As a community provider, the falls directly in line with our mission of delivering care.”

Those in the process of becoming foster parents that need to fulfill the required medical physical can visit any of Community Care’s Health Center or CareXpress locations. Appropriate paperwork must be presented at time of physical to have the fee waived.

According to the West Virginia DHHR, more than a thousand children were added to the child welfare system between 2012 and 2016. The total count of children in the state’s care has now reached more than 5,000.

Individuals looking to become foster parents or interested in learning more about the process can visit www.dhhr.wv.gov.