The Rowan County Department of Social Services is looking for community volunteers for its Child and Family and Permanency Planning Action Team.

Community volunteers are required to attend meetings for children in foster care. The meetings allow the department to develop plans to address critical safety and permanency issues with family members, professionals, guardian ad litem volunteers and supportive persons. Policy requires that a community volunteer — someone with no relation to the family or to DSS — attend in order to offer objective opinions.

Volunteers attend the meetings and offer suggestions or helpful comments to the other groups attending. Meetings last an average of one and a half hours and time of day varies according to families needs. All meetings are confidential, and any interested volunteers will need to sign a confidentiality agreement.

For more information please contact Micah Ennis, social work services program manager, at 704-216-8479 or micah.ennis@rowancountync.gov.

Rowan County One Church One Child is also collecting school items for students in foster care. While the non-profit has received plenty of items for elementary school students, there are multiple needs for middle and high school students.

Requested items for middle and high school students include: large backpacks, protractors, compasses, calculators, three and five subject college rule composition books, college rule notebook paper, dividers, report folders, highlighters, markers, large erasers, colored pencils, pens and pencils.

The non-profit is also collecting: baby wipes, shampoo, bar soap, deodorant, tooth paste and boys clothes (sizes 5 through 16 requested).

Any donations should be delivered to the One Church One Child Assistance Center, Main Street United Methodist Church, 1312 N. Main St. School-related donations should be delivered by Thursday, Aug. 10.