Marion County's foster home network is strained to bursting: - So many kids are removed from meth-addicted parents that foster homes are overloaded.

- When foster parents take in too many kids, the parents burn out and kids get shuffled to other homes.

- When kids get shuffled from home to home, they may act out, making it even harder to find good homes for them.

One obvious solution is to recruit more foster homes — preferably homes in the communities where children have been living. Kids from Sublimity, for example, should be able to stay in their familiar school, attend their usual church and above all remain with their siblings when their family lives are in turmoil.

Surprisingly, Oregon Department of Human Services couldn't say what percentage of the approximately 1,300 Marion County children in foster care came from the Stayton/Aumsville area; however, there are beds for about 20 children in these communities.

The problem is that not all those beds are filled by local children. Beds for foster children are at such a premium and placements must usually be made in such haste that some East Valley children wind up in Salem foster homes, and some Salem foster children wind up in Stayton, says Mary Stovin, certification supervisor in Marion County.

That's unfortunate both ways — for the city child cut off from family, friends and even siblings, and for the East Valley child who might as well be a hundred miles away from his familiar surroundings.

There are several ways that our communities can help change this:

-Consider volunteering to become a foster parent. The number of certified foster families in Marion County has slipped from 575 a couple of years ago to about 465 currently as existing families have left the system. New families are desperately needed to take their place. If there were enough families plus some to spare, caseworkers could place siblings together and place children in their own town.

-Work with your church to organize Foster Parents' Night Out, a monthly four-hour program of activities for children and respite for foster parents. This occasional break gives foster parents a chance to relax and gives children a fun time with their peers.

-Support the grandparents and other relatives who already are caring for young children in East Valley communities. Family caregivers are slowly gaining respect after years of being overlooked by child-protection authorities. Lend a hand by donating a take-out meal, offering to include kids in a family outing or helping them with chores.

As the economy worsens, pressures on families will worsen as well. Adults can protect our communities' kids by strengthening local safety nets as much as possible.