Area Foster Parents of the Year is awarded to a pair from Northeast Arkansas

Jonesboro, Arkansas – Ten families have been named Arkansas Foster Parents of the Year, including a pair from Region 8.

The families were selected from over 100 nominations received by the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services, the agency announced on Thursday.
Every one of DCFS’s ten service areas is represented by the winning families.

Area 8 winners were John and Angela Briggs of Randolph County.

The new DCFS Perseverance Award went to Cross County residents Blake and Bryanna Irvin. According to a news release, the award is “given to a family that has faced challenge but continued to serve children and youth in foster care without hesitation.”

The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts will host a banquet in May that DCFS will use to celebrate the winners. One of the 10 winners will be crowned the 2024 state Foster Parent of the Year during the banquet.

This year’s winners are:

• Area 1: Lisa Stockdale (Benton County)
• Area 2: Dale and Rebecca Comstock (Sebastian County)
• Area 3: Jerry and Tonya Ross (Garland County)
• Area 4: Cassandra “Cassie” Thomas (Miller County)
• Area 5: Mark and Jessica McNair (Faulkner County)
• Area 6: Will and Emma McGrath (Pulaski County)
• Area 7: Darran and Casie Williams (Jefferson County)
• Area 8: John and Angela Briggs (Randolph County)
• Area 9: Joshua and Shianna Cowell (White County)
• Area 10: Renella Lee (Phillips County)
• Early Promise: Ron and Wanda Day (Faulkner County)
• Perseverance: Blake and Bryanna Irvin (Cross County)