“Empty nest syndrome,” Leticia Horton said.

That, she said, is what brought her, along with her husband, Henry Horton, to an orientation on Tuesday for prospective foster parents. Leticia Horton said she and her husband have been helping out with the raising of children in the family for a long time, but now those children have grown.

“Family children — they’ve been living with us for years,” she said. “Now they are all adults. Some are married. In college. So there’s no one home.”

The Hortons were among about 20 people who came to an orientation for prospective foster parents Tuesday evening at the Lauderdale County Courthouse in Meridian. The orientation was part of a faith-based, Christian-focused initiative called “Rescue 100” to find prospective foster parents, along with people who’d like to support them.

Find out more

People interested in more information about the next two Rescue 100 orientations, or who want to register, can go to rescue100.org.

People seeking more general information about helping with foster care in Mississippi can call 1-800-821-9157.

They can also log into www.mdcps.ms.gov/become-a-resource-fosteradoptive-parent.

The Ridgeland-based nonprofit organization 200 Million Flowers is partnering with the Mississippi Commission on Children’s Justice and the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, along with churches throughout the state, to conduct the initiative, according to a news release.

An orientation such as Tuesday’s is required for people who wish to attend a Rescue 100 Training Weekend from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at the MSU Riley Center in Meridian. The weekend provides consolidated training to become a certified foster parent, but it meets the same requirements, officials say.

Rescue 100 will present two additional hour-long orientations in the state before the training weekend. One orientation will take place at 6 p.m. Monday at Agape Church, on 415 Central Ave. in Laurel; another will be offered at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Meadow Grove Baptist Church, on 3221 Louis Wilson Drive in Brandon.

But people interested in becoming foster parents may also go through the traditional path with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.

Jamie Walley, director of church relations and training for 200 Million Flowers, led Tuesday’s session in Meridian. He emphasized the need for service on a variety of levels.

“Not everyone who comes through our orientations is called to bring children into your home,” he said. “But for the Christ follower, there’s no loophole when it comes to orphan care.”

As of this past Monday, 6,012 children are in state custody in Mississippi, said Lea Anne Brandon, director of communications for the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.

In Lauderdale County, 142 children are in MDCPS custody as of Sept. 1, according to statistics from the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services. There are 45 licensed foster homes in the county, 17 of which were licensed only to care for children who are relatives.

Walley stressed that the goal of foster care, ultimately, is to reunify the child with the family.

“I use the word ‘reunification’ a lot,” he said on Tuesday. “The goal of the state of Mississippi … is to reunify that child with his or her family.”

Walley also stressed the importance of support for people seeking to serve as a foster family.

“You cannot be a successful foster family if you’re on an island,” he said.

Walley recounted his own experiences caring for children in foster care, describing the way his wife first presented the idea to him, and noting his own initial reluctance. But then he noted the vigor with which he and his wife cared for children in a range of situations and for starkly different periods of time.

“We’ve had kids for a few hours, we’ve had a child for overnight, we’ve had children for a couple weeks, and we had a child for about a month,” he said.

And just this past August, he said, he and his wife finalized the adoption of a child for whom they’d been caring.

Walley noted that adoption is a possibility when foster children are taken in — but he returned several times to the importance of working to reunite children with their families.

“You’re cooperating with reunification whether you agree with it or not,” he said. “Families have gotten a court order to do their thing, and you’re not hindering this reunification process. You’re helping. You have to be mindful that it’s not just a ministry to the children that are in foster care, but also to the families. We’ve seen some really cool things happen in the lives of foster families and (biological) families.”

Walley acknowledged the potential for awkwardness between biological and foster families, but he said some powerful connections have also emerged.

He also talked, early in his presentation, about the importance of grace — springing from his reflections on the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

“We receive amazing grace, but sometimes we’re not as good at extending amazing grace,” he said. “The children in the state of Mississippi who are in crisis today and their biological families who are hurting, and (who may have) made poor decisions — these families, these children are in need of great grace. Amazing grace.”

People interested in more information about the next two Rescue 100 orientations, or who want to register, can go to rescue100.org.

People seeking more general information about helping with foster care in Mississippi can call 1-800-821-9157.

They can also log into www.mdcps.ms.gov/become-a-resource-fosteradoptive-parent.