5 Things to Know About Fostering during Foster Care Awareness Month!
May is Foster Care Awareness Month! Here are five things to know about foster care and how you can help!
#1: Who is it for?
The foster care system is designed to provide a safe, temporary residence for children who have been subjected to abuse, neglect, or other factors in their family of origin that place them at high risk of harm.
#2: How does it work?
When a child enters foster care, they are immediately placed with a licensed foster family, a biological relative, or a group care facility. Most often, this transition is quick and unexpected by the child.
Foster care is best used as a temporary way of supporting children and their families. Each child is assigned to a specific social worker who creates a permanency goal and a reunification plan, working with the court and the birth family if possible to establish a safe living environment. If the situation does not permit reunification with the birth family, the social worker sets up a plan of long-term fostering with the hope of adoption.
#3: Why is it needed?
In the United States, there are roughly 400,000 children in foster care at any given time. When the state is able to provide the children with a safe family unit through a loving foster care placement, the children are given the space to find healing in the nurture and safety of a family. Without great foster families, law enforcement officials, social workers, and volunteers, the outcome for children in foster care would be fearfully uncertain. A safe haven is an incredibly important resource to children as their reunification and/or a permanency plan is created.
#4 Who are the children in Foster Care?
Foster children represent the diversity of Colorado and include all ages, every race and ethnicity, and ability levels. Some have special developmental, medical and emotional needs. They often have siblings and want to stay united with them.
Foster children are in every community in Colorado. They are living in your neighborhood and attending your child’s school.
Every foster child needs stability and the same love and nurturing that all young people need.
#5: How can you help?
Become a foster parent, provide respite care, or donate!
The greatest need is for qualified families to become licensed foster families. There are between 500-100 foster families needed to provide a foster home for every child that needs one in Colorado. You can change the life of a child and the trajectory of a family by becoming a foster parent!
You can also help by providing respite care. Families providing respite care need to be licensed. Contact us below if you’re interested in supporting foster families and children in this way!
Not able to have a child in your home? Please donate to help us provide the support to foster families that need to provide a safe and stable home for children!
Interested in becoming a Foster Parent?
Fill out the form below and we’ll contact you to answer questions or start the process