It's a normal night at the McCarty household, with parents Robin and Elijah, 15-year-old Lawrence, 14-year-old Lawrencia and six-year-old Kayla, who, even in this family of five, still manages to be the outspoken one.  But none of the children was actually "born" into this family.

“I was born in my mom's heart and not in her stomach," said little Kayla.

 All three children were adopted.

"It was the best thing that could have happened to us," said Robin McCarty.

WWL-TV

Teri Hravbosky and her husband have had more than a dozen foster children come through their home.

But post-Katrina, there are now fewer families like the McCartys in the metro New Orleans area.

"After the storm we lost about two-thirds of our certified foster homes," said adoption and foster family recruiter Tyra Mercadel.  She left her career as a child abuse investigator when she realized there simply weren't enough people willing to take in all the children she was rescuing.

"We suspect about 250 cases of suspected abuse and neglect each month," she said.

Now as a recruiter touched by the crisis, Mercadel tries to explain the need to anyone willing to listen, like Leslie and Robert Jupiter who are now considering adoption.

"I had no idea the need was so great," said Leslie Jupiter.

One way recruiters try to fill the need is a match party, where children who are eligible for adoption come to meet parents certified for adoption in the state of Louisiana.

Teri Hrabovsky and her husband Brian were certified just one year ago, but have already seen 16 foster children go in and out of their home.  They say the match party is a strong part of the solution, but say it's also a reminder of what many children now have to go through.

"A lot of them have been to more than one match party," Teri Hrabovsky said. 

“It’s just very sad because they know what this is about and that they may leave here again without a mommy or a daddy."

Since Hurricane Katrina, the number of certified foster and adoptive parents has dramatically gone down, but the number of children still in need of homes has not.

WWL-TV

Young Kayla makes her point known. She and two other children were adopted by the McCartys.

"We have three children to each home right now, which means we are sending children outside of our area," Mercadel said.

To be exact, the state is having to send more than 300 children to other parts of Louisiana.

"It's horrible for them," said foster parent Teri Hrabovsky.  "They need to stay in the city, where their connections are, where their school is, where their family is, where their friends are," she explained.

“They've already had so many losses in their lives.  To take them out of their home is just devastating for them."

Placing children in local group homes remains the only other option, but many are already at or near capacity.

12-year-old Tyler Brumfield now lives in one of those group homes, but says he wants nothing more than to leave, wrapped in the arms of a permanent family.

"So no kids would pick on you because you are in a home and you didn't have a family to call your own,” he said.  “So that'd be real special."

12-year-old Leandrea Dixon finds her self in the same sort of limbo.

"A lot of kids have their own home and I don't,” she said.

Dixon says she counts down the days until she's adopted, with no real way of knowing when or if that will happen.

"It would be very special because I've been up for adoption for about three years or four, and I've never been adopted."

Close to 6,000 children in the state are in the adoption and foster care system, all victims of either abuse or neglect.  Some need a temporary home, while others need something more permanent since the state ruled their parents can't properly care for them.  But others can step in to fill the growing need.

"Is it hard?  It's absolutely hard,” said Hrabovsky.  “But you know what?  Most of the great things in life are hard, and it's worth it.”

"We can give them love and we can give them happiness," said Elijah McCarty.

“You can't save the world but maybe I can save a few kids,” he said.

There is an especially serious need for people willing to take in teenagers in the metro area.

         Whether you might be interested in adopting or fostering a child, it's the same certification process, consisting of one-hour sessions each week, for seven weeks, and you become certified for both.  To learn more, call the Department of Social Services at 736-7171 or 568-7448 or 985-893-6363 for the North shore region.  In Houma/Thibodaux, call 985-449-5055.

         Also the Therapeutic Family Services program of Catholic Charities is badly in need of foster parents for children with behavior disorders and those who are developmentally delayed or medically dependent.  The program provides therapeutic and support services to children and foster families.  For information call 504-310-6944.  For more information on Catholic Charities’ Adoption Services, call 504-885-1141 or 1-866-566-1399.