密歇根新闻广播 密歇根有很多儿童等待着被收养

Michigan has a shortage. There are thousands of children who need foster families, but far fewer families willing to help.

Shereen Allen-Youngblood is a community outreach specialist at The Children’s Center in Wayne County. She recruits foster parents, and says many people who consider becoming foster parents think they may not be qualified¹, when that isn’t the case in reality.

“[Some people] feel like they have to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to be a foster parent and that’s not the case,” Allen-Youngblood said. “You only have to be 18 to be a foster parent. Even if you work at McDonald's you can be a foster parent as long as you’re willing to open up a safe and loving home.”

There’s roughly 13,000 foster kids without homes, 5,000 of whom are living in Wayne County. Allen-Youngblood says it would probably take “thousands” of new foster families to meet the demand.

Shauntay Frazier-Hall and her husband are foster parents. She says she decided² to become a foster parent after temporarily taking care of some of her friend's kids. Before she became a foster parent, Frazier-Hall says she had some of the same misconceptions about what it’s like to be a foster parent.

“I thought we needed to have lots of money and lots of space but that’s not the case,” Frazier-Hall said. “Once we started the process and the licensing³ agent came out, she told us how we would be a good fit for several children.”

Listen to the entire conversation with Shereen Allen-Youngblood, Community outreach specialist at The Children’s Center in Wayne County, and Shauntay Frazier-Hall, devoted⁴ foster parent, above.

1 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。