ERIE COUNTY — In Ohio, nearly 17,000 children are in foster care, but only 7,000 families are licensed to care for them. The story is the same in Erie County, where the number of children in foster care far exceeds the number of children helped.

Greg Hall has been a foster parent in Erie County for two years. It helps with emergency and respite care.

“At three in the morning when law enforcement goes with child services for a move, they contact us and come with me,” Hall said.

With a background in law enforcement, he knows how traumatic the removal process can be for families.

“These children are the most vulnerable in our county and they need a loving and compassionate home. And some of them might not get that at home. So yeah, it’s been an amazing experience,” Hall said.

And while it’s been rewarding, he says it’s also a costly experience for his family.

“One of the biggest things is child care,” Hall said.

Foster parents in Erie County spent a few hundred dollars of their own money each month to cover expenses.

“I’ve known foster families before this who emptied their entire daycare savings account to provide that daycare for the foster child and they did it out of the goodness of their hearts,” said Lobby.

That is, until Hall brought the financial obstacle to the attention of Erie County Board of Commissioners Chairman Patrick Shenigo and Job and Family Services Executive Director AJ Lill.

“We looked at the situation and what the costs were, and we thought this was something we couldn’t not do,” Shenigo said.

Now in Erie County, foster parents will be reimbursed for child care costs up to $200 per week if both foster parents work and use a certified child care facility, but efforts of the county did not stop there. They want to bring the kids home to Erie County.

“We were sending too many children out of the county, which is not only expensive, but is not good for the children. And our goal was to keep these kids in the school system that they’re in, in the activities that they’re involved in and not have to move them,” Shenigo said.

There are currently 22 foster parents in Erie County and 51 children are in the custody of Erie County Job and Family Services. Twenty of those children had to be sent to foster homes in Toledo, Cleveland and Columbus.

“Our goal was to attract more foster parents to our system,” Lill said.

Foster families will receive a daily pay increase based on the child’s age and needs, as well as $250 twice a year that could be spent on clothing and shoes for the foster child.

“Before, if a child was 11 and under, it was $30 per day, then, with the support of the commissioner, it is now $35 per day. And then for children 12 and over, it was $38 per day and now it’s $43 per day. And then finally there are kids with complex behavioral and mental health issues and other issues that they have, they used to cost $45 a day, and now they cost $50,” Lill said.

Lill says existing families are excited about the raise, daily wage and allowance.

“Parents are very aware that when they welcome a child into their home, they want that child to be treated like their own children,” Lill said.

Hall says he hopes this will open the floodgates to the number of people who decide to enter foster care in Erie County.