ARKANSAS (KFSM) - The Arkansas Department of Human Services covers seven counties in the River Valley with more than 900 kids in foster care or free for adoption.
12-year-old Giovanni is one of those children. The young boy has been in DHS care since August of 2012.
The sweet and energetic boy was raised by his grandmother after his mother gave up parental rights when Giovanni was a baby.
According to Giovanni, "I knew my grandma, who I always called mom, which confused me later on in my life because I thought she was my mom." After his grandmother passed away, his sister was adopted by a relative. However, Giovanni was left in the care of DHS.
Giovanni loves to sing and is a sports fan who loves football and baseball. He also loves to play video games when he has time.
But through all the tough times, Giovanni said one of his favorite things to do is watching other families have fun. This gives him hope that one day he will find his loving, forever family.
"People that would love me, care about me and take care of me are the things that I need," said Giovanni.
If your family is interested in adopting or fostering, a background check will first be completed. Then comes an in-home meeting with the family to do a brief walk through assessment of the home. Training classes are then conducted for the family to learn more about the adoption process. The safe home study is the final step.
After all the training, families can take a child into their homes to live. The child must live with the adopted family for at least six months before the adoption is finalized. The entire adoption process from start to finish takes about one year.
If you would like to be a foster parent, DHS is always on the lookout to place kids in temporary homes until they're reunited with their family.
To learn more about adopting or fostering a child, CLICK HERE.