Eight years filled with love and children

Local family named area Foster Family of the Year

Family: Jeremy and Brooke Hargis were named area Foster Family of the Year by the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services in June. The Hargis’ have fostered over 100 children and adopted four children in their years of fostering. Back row from left, Breanna Hargis, Bayleigh Hargis, Brooke Hargis, Bentley Hargis and Jeremy Hargis. Front row from left, Abagail and Chloe Hargis.
Family: Jeremy and Brooke Hargis were named area Foster Family of the Year by the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services in June. The Hargis’ have fostered over 100 children and adopted four children in their years of fostering. Back row from left, Breanna Hargis, Bayleigh Hargis, Brooke Hargis, Bentley Hargis and Jeremy Hargis. Front row from left, Abagail and Chloe Hargis.

After nearly eight years and more than 100 children, Jeremy and Brooke Hargis have closed out their fostering time with a bang.

The Hargis’ were named Area 4 Foster Parents of the Year by the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services in June. With 10 areas divided throughout Arkansas, Jeremy and Brooke Hargis were selected as Area 4 foster parents for their “significant efforts to support children in foster care and their biological families,” according to a press release. Area 4 encompasses Union, Columbia, Ouachita, Lafayette, Nevada, Hempstead, Miller, Little River and Sever counties.

Jeremy and Brooke Hargis decided to close their home in April. The couple have adopted four children and have one biological child. They closed their home the day their youngest child’s adoption was finalized.

“We closed in order to focus on our family, and it was time,” Brooke Hargis said. “We devoted almost eight years and it was time to focus on us. It was a very hard decision.”

Brooke Hargis said she was surprised when she got the call that they won Foster Family of the Year. She jokingly said she thought she was being pranked.

“It’s a great honor,” she said. “It kind of makes our last year of fostering go out with a bang.”

The Hargis’, who fostered through the state, mainly took in children ages 2 and under. Brooke Hargis said sometimes they even picked up newborns from the hospital.

Jeremy Hargis said seeing the kids grow was one of his favorite parts about fostering.

“The longest we ever had one was a year,” he said. “When you have a kid for a year, you get to see them grow. You try to bring them up in a Christian home, with Christian values.”

According to a press release, DCFS Director Mischa Martin said the Hargis’ were selected as area winners primarily because they have embraced their role as a “reunification partner” and worked closely with the biological families of the children in their care.

“They are amazing foster parents and pour all of their energy into their children,” Martin said. “In addition to their commitment to helping reunify children with their families, the Hargis’ have made a name for themselves through their ability and willingness to be ambassadors and powerful voices for foster parenting.”

Keeping sibling groups together was very important to the Hargis’. Jeremy Hargis said the largest number of foster children they had at one time was four. Two of their adopted children are biological sisters, he added.

“In all of our years, we did not have one terminated case, to where (a child) did not go back, until we got Bentley,” Brooke Hargis said, referring to their youngest adopted child. “Everybody else went to relatives and we like to see them go back to family if they can.”

The couple found out about fostering children when looking into adoption because they couldn’t have any more children. Their biological daughter is almost 20 years old and their adopted children range from 10 years old to 17 months.

Brooke Hargis said their biological daughter was a big advocate for the kids.

“At one time during all of this she said, ‘momma, we just need a bigger house where we can take all of these kids,’” Jeremy Hargis added.

Brooke Hargis said she is still mentoring other foster parents in the area and that she is still part of “their support system.”

Jeremy Hargis said his advice for someone considering fostering children or new foster parents would be “have a big heart, pray a lot and love a lot.”

The nominations for outstanding foster families were submitted from each area by family service workers, other foster parents and child advocates.

Along with winning the award, the couple will be honored at a banquet at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion on July 20, where one overall state foster family of the year will be announced.

Kaitlyn Rigdon can be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].

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