A new partnership aims to help foster children find permanent homes

January 14, 2026

Buncombe County Health and Human Services (DSS) is partnering with the nonprofit Foster Family Alliance (FFA) of North Carolina to address long-standing challenges in recruiting, training and retaining foster, kinship and adoptive families.

The goal of the contract, which runs through Tuesday, June 30, is to reduce delays, prevent families from dropping out of the system and shorten the time children spend waiting in foster care for permanent, stable homes, says FFA Executive Director Gaile Osborne, who lives in Buncombe County and has fostered more than 30 children.

“We are not looking to go in and replace the frontline social workers,” she explains. “We’re looking to come alongside and assist.”

Rebecca Smith, Buncombe’s director of social work, says the county has long struggled with the same problems seen across North Carolina and the country — not enough families willing and able to foster or adopt, especially for older youths, sibling groups and children from minority backgrounds. Even when families do step forward, many leave the system within a few years, creating a constant need for recruitment, training and support, Smith says.

The FFA partnership is designed to address those challenges on multiple fronts at once.

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