With more than 700 children without a home, changes to the foster care program needed to be made.

Four changes to the Pee Dee regional foster care program have been in effect for a month and are quickly making an impact.

The changes that took place on July 1st included a 20 percent increase to the board rate, lead painting licensing revisions, a renewed emphasis on recruitment and a new communications liaison.

A Conway couple who has impacted the foster care program says these changes will provide more support for foster parents like themselves and open up more homes for siblings to be placed together.

Jennifer and Jeff Edgerton have fostered 26 children with their two biological sons since becoming licensed in 2018.

“The process of becoming a foster parent seems long and strenuous until you have been fostering for a year and then you realize that the five or six months it took to get licensed really is small for the impact we have been able to have over the last year.” Jeff Edgerton says.

New changes were implemented one month ago to improve the process of becoming a foster parent and open up more homes.

The increased board rate and the lead licensing requirement revisions are two changes already benefitting the program since going into effect in July.

The Edgertons say that the higher board rate will allow more money to be put towards their foster children’s school and outside activities.

“Foster families are expected to take care of the very basic need of a child through their own financial means. We want to give them the opportunity to have the most normal of a life as possible even while they are in care,” Department of Social Services Program Coordinator Kaci Wingate said.

The lead paint requirement revision has allowed more parents to expand their license to fostering younger children which has allowed more sibling groups to be kept together.

The Department of Social Services said some of these changes do not happen often, maybe once every three to four years.

Their hope is to continue seeing improvements and a growing foster parent population as the changes provide more support to the program.