MUNCIE, Ind. − Delaware County Commissioners were enlisted Monday in a campaign to help develop a temporary emergency home for children awaiting foster care in Delaware County.

Kimberlie Hall, with Isaiah 117 — a group that works across Indiana and other states to develop care for children who can no longer stay at their homes — is trying to find a local place for sheltering children.

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Hall said that children removed from a home in the county by the Indiana Department of Child Services have no where but DCS offices to stay until a foster home becomes available.

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"They have a couple of conference room and a basket of toys," Hall said of the office.

The children are often brought to the office in the middle of the night, she said.

"They usually don't have any possessions. Some don't even have clothes. They are scared and confused. They don't know what is going to happen next," Hall said.

The declared mission of the organization is to reduce trauma for children entering foster care, ease the burden on the Department of Child Services and support placement families.

Commissioners were sympathetic.

"We will work to try to find something," promised Delaware County Commissioner Sherry Riggin.

Hall told Commissioner King that the group was now looking for two lots.

Jeff Hansard, chief probation officer in Delaware County, came to the commissioners meeting to discuss another matter but backed up Hall concerning the need for children taken out of a home in emergency circumstances to have an emergency home after they've been removed from their home by DCS.

"They have to sleep in an office building sometimes for a few days until a placement can be secured for them," Hansard said. "It's totally unacceptable. It's totally inappropriate. People within the system are just doing the best they can with what they've got."

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Hall showed slides of the local DCS office, which is a common room of cubicles where children are kept.

"There is no emergency care in Delaware County" she said.

Hansard said that the county used to have an emergency shelter for juveniles in need.

"We had it 20 years ago. We don't have it now," he said.

Hall said an emergency shelter home was opened recently in Marion County.

Isaiah 117 in Delaware County is looking for sponsors for a planned fundraising luncheon and also a dinner in November. The luncheon is set for Nov. 16.

"We are looking for property and spreading the word," Hall said.

Hall said got involved with the group through the local office of the Court Appointed Special Advocates. Hall is a member of the CASA staff.

"I have seen how much we need this in Delaware County," she said.

But she said other counties nearby are in a similar situation and the shelter developed here would be made available for kids from other counties if room exists.

Isaiah 117 takes its name from the Bible verse from the Book of Isaiah, chapter one, verse 17, which says: "Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow."

Hannah Coffman, Isaiah II7 coordinator in Delaware County, said that ideally the house would be located with 10 to 15 minutes from the Department of Child Services for the county, which is at 3600 W Kilgore Ave.

The Isaiah 117 program started in Tennessee in 2018. It now has 19 open homes and 30 homes being developed.

For more information, Coffman can be contacted at hannah.coffman@isaiah117house.com.

David Penticuff is a reporter with The Star Press. He can be contacted at dpenticuff@Gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Need for home to house children ahead of foster placement discussed