PARENTING
I am interested in foster care.
There are approximately 440,000 foster youth nationwide. While not all children are legally available to be adopted, there are many opportunities for you to support children in foster care. Here are places that you can go to learn more about foster care, to serve as an advocate for foster children, and to consider participating as a foster parent.
Please Note: Emergency care is available for those who are struggling and need support to regain family stability. See more information below.
AdoptUsKids
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdoptUSKids/
In English: (888) 200-4005
En español: (877) 236-7831
In English: info@adoptuskids.org
En español: espanol@adoptuskids.org
AdoptUSKids is a national project that supports child welfare systems and connects children in foster care with families. AdoptUSKids educates families about foster care and adoption and gives child welfare professionals information and support to help them improve their services. We also maintain the nation’s only federally funded photolisting service that connects waiting children with families.
Learn more about foster parenting: https://www.adoptuskids.org/adoption-and-foster-care/overview/foster-parenting
Together We Rise
https://www.togetherwerise.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/togetherwerise/
Phone: (714) 784-6760
Contact Form: https://www.togetherwerise.org/contact-us/
Together We Rise is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization comprised of motivated young adults and former foster youth. Our vision is to improve the lives of children in foster care, who often find themselves forgotten and neglected by the public. We collaborate with individuals, companies, and community partners to bring resources to foster youth and use service-learning activities to educate volunteers on issues surrounding the foster care system. TWR works with hundreds of foster agencies, social workers, CASA advocates, and other partners to bring our programs to foster youth across the nation. Our foundation has allowed us to provide thousands of foster youth across the country with new bicycles, college supplies, and sweet cases so that children do not have to travel from home to home with their belongings in a trash bag.
National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CASAforChildren
Contact: https://casaforchildren.org/contact-us/
The National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Association, together with its state and local member programs, supports and promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy so every abused or neglected child in the United States can be safe, have a permanent home and have the opportunity to thrive. The National CASA/GAL Association supports a network of nearly 950 state and local programs.
America’s Kids Belong
https://americaskidsbelong.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmKidsBelong
Email: info@amkidsbelong.org
America’s Kids Belong is a 501(c)3 organization that mobilizes government, faith-based, business and creative leaders around the goal of permanency and belonging for every child. Combining grassroots and “grasstops” methods, America’s Kids Belong runs innovative initiatives in states to help ensure that every child is in a loving home by: recruiting more foster and adoptive families, engaging wrap-around support for at-risk, foster and adoptive families along the way, and helping youth who have aged out without a family reach their full potential.
iFoster
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ifosterorg/
Email: support@ifoster.org
Phone: 1-(855)-936-7837
iFoster was launched to help the 3.3 Million children living in foster and kinship care who, without proper supports, grow up to be homeless, incarcerated, uneducated, and too often young parents themselves. Launched in October of 2010, the iFoster community is supporting over 1.8 million children across 50 states, and is growing by over 100,000 monthly. iFoster is a free, members-only community supporting children in or at-risk of entry into child welfare. iFoster is a place for transition-aged youth, caregivers, agencies, and other organizations to come together to support each other, share trusted information, and leverage the strength of millions of voices and billions of dollars in purchasing power to improve their lives and the lives of the children.
ALTERNATIVES TO FOSTER CARE: Emergency Care
Safe Families for Children
*An emergency care program offered by Bethany Christian Services
Informational Page: https://bethany.org/help-a-child/emergency-care/safe-families
Contact for Help: https://bethany.org/contact-us?areaOfInterests=b52fe007-4469-e611-80d5-0050568618f3
When a family is in crisis, kids can become vulnerable to neglect and abuse. No family should experience this. Through the Safe Families for Children ministry, volunteer Host Families offer loving care to parents, watching over their children while the parents regain stability.
Please note: Emergency care is not foster care.
In foster care, children are placed into homes through the courts, and foster families receive compensation for their care. In Safe Families, parents voluntarily place children into homes, and host families receive no compensation for their care.
With foster care, the courts remove a child from their home, often because of abuse or neglect. With emergency care, parents voluntarily seek a safe place for their child due to a number of reasons including an unexpected illness, homelessness, or the lack of extended family support.
While it may vary, the average length of stay in Safe Families is 30 days, whereas foster care can be closer to a year. This temporary care for children gives parents time to re-establish stability in their homes so the family can be reunited—stronger than ever.
*The above text is from the BCS Safe Families for Children webpage.