Clark County Family Services is urgently seeking foster families willing to care for sibling groups, with 36 groups of brothers and sisters currently living at Child Haven while awaiting placement together. To help address this immediate need, thirteen families who have completed their foster care background checks and fingerprints started an expedited foster parent training program this past Sunday, July 6.

Currently, 64% of the sibling groups at Child Haven are pairs of two children, while 25% are groups of three children. Six percent are groups of four children, and 6% are groups of five children—all waiting for families who can keep them together during their time in care.

“Keeping siblings together isn't just about convenience—it's about preserving the most important relationships these children have,” said Frank Prado, Director of Clark County Family Services. “When brothers and sisters can stay together in foster care, they maintain their family bonds and have better outcomes. We're looking for families with big hearts and homes who can step up for these kids.”

Family Services offers expedited foster parent training that compresses all foster care training requirements into two intensive weekends, designed for families fully committed to becoming foster parents immediately. This fast-paced course covers the same comprehensive topics as the traditional seven-week program but gets families licensed faster.

To qualify for the fast-tracked foster parent training program, families must complete their foster care information session, fingerprints, background check, and online application. The next expedited course will begin in October, so people who want to enroll in the expedited training need to start working on the process immediately. Families can also enroll in the traditional 7-week foster care training courses, with new courses beginning monthly. The first step to enroll in either the expedited or the traditional training is to attend a foster care information session.

Child Haven serves as the County's emergency shelter where children live while waiting for placement with relatives or foster families. On most days, 90-100 children are on campus, with many having brothers and sisters alongside them in care. Finding foster homes for larger sibling groups presents unique challenges, which is why Clark County Family Services especially needs families who can accommodate three or more children. Additional support is available, including increased foster care reimbursement rates for families caring for multiple siblings and children with higher levels of need.

Families interested in learning more about foster care can attend an information session by visiting www.clarkcountyfostercare.com.

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Clark County is a dynamic and innovative organization dedicated to providing top-quality service with integrity, respect and accountability. With jurisdiction over the world-famous Las Vegas Strip and covering an area the size of New Jersey, Clark is the nation’s 11th-largest county and provides extensive regional services to 2.4 million citizens and 45.6 million visitors a year (2022). Included are the nation’s 7th-busiest airport, air quality compliance, social services and the state’s largest public hospital, University Medical Center. The County also provides municipal services that are traditionally provided by cities to 1 million residents in the unincorporated area. Those include fire protection, roads and other public works, parks and recreation, and planning and development.