NATCHEZ — For more than 190 years, the Natchez Children’s Home has provided a safe place for children who need a long-term living situation. And now, that’s changing.

The children’s home has recently shifted, not its mission but its focus, Director Nancy Hungerford said.

“It’s a change in delivery for the care of children, but it is no way a closure — we are busier than ever,” she said.

The change in focus is an effort to get more children placed in foster homes rather than long-term institutional stays.

“We are looking at very short stays in the residential program and long-term stays in foster care,” Hungerford said.

“That gives the children an opportunity to have a family setting, and I certainly think that best practice would suggest children need a family setting rather than an institutional one.”

The children’s home has been coordinating foster families for the last 25 years, so this is really nothing new, she said.

“When the home was started, one of the problems (it addressed) was orphans, but our kids are not orphans,” she said. “They are children with families that need a lot of support and help. The goal of the foster families will be that those children will be reunited with their natural families.”

The home is limited to housing 12 children at a time, and by shortening institutional stays and encouraging foster placement, Hungerford said the home will actually be able to serve more children.

“In Mississippi, there are 3,600 children in out-of-home care, so there is still a huge need for caring for children who have been neglected, abused or are in at-risk settings,” she said. “We don’t want children just living here for a year, two years, three years. We need to be a sort of pass through to a better, more permanent setting.”

Because the children’s home still serves as a short-term housing location, Hungerford said donations of household items are still needed.

“We maintain a kitchen, a fleet of vehicles, 1,200 square feet of heated and cooled space that contains classrooms, counseling space, offices and living quarters,” she said. “I need everything you need to run your household, just in bigger boxes and packages.”

The home will also accept donations of deer meet, and some local deer processors will process and donate a deer to the children’s home if the hunter brings it in field dressed, Hungerford said.

Because the home is emphasizing foster care, Hungerford said the it needs people who are willing to serve as foster families in southwest Mississippi.

Those interested should call case manager Stacy Havard at 601-442-6858 for more information.

The home will train, subsidize and counsel the foster families, Hungerford said.

To do that, donations of items like baby equipment and twin-size beds are needed, she said.

“Because we are going to be increasing the number of foster families, we want to help provide what they need in their homes to take care of children of all ages,” she said.

The Natchez Children’s Home was founded in 1816.