More than 100,000 children in the United States are in foster care waiting for permanent families. If you are interested and so inspired, here are many resources for you to learn from and connect with.
Nationwide:
- AdoptUSKids – Their mission is two-fold: to raise public awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families for children in the public child welfare system; and to assist U.S. States, Territories and Tribes to recruit and retain foster and adoptive families and connect them with children throughout the United States.
- KidsPeace (become a foster parent) – KidsPeace is a private charity dedicated to serving the behavioral and mental health needs of children, families and communities.
- FCAC (Foster Care & Adoptive Community) – Online training courses for working with at risk children.
- Foster Care Counts – Matches volunteers with foster families who need their support, and raises funds to support Los Angeles non-profits doing important work for foster youth and families.
- Los Angeles County Foster Family Agencies – Over 50,000 children await the hope and dream of being adopted or cared for in a safe place and loving arms.
- Children’s Bureau of South California – Mission: “To significantly change the lives of at-risk children by providing state-of-the-art child abuse prevention and treatment services”
- Kinship Center – Mission: “Builds adoptive and other families where children can heal from past abuse, neglect or abandonment and grow to healthy adulthood. We help 2,000 children each year, mostly those whom many others consider too difficult: severely traumatized children, older teenagers, children with disabilities, large sibling groups, and drug affected infants.”
- Optimist Youth Homes and Family Services – Over 100 years of caring for children
- PennyLane – An Array of Children’s Social Services in Southern California
- Together We Rise – Comprised of motivated young adults and former foster youth, works to improve the lives of foster children in America.
- Vista Del Mar – Mission: provide comprehensive, family-centered social, educational and behavioral health services that encourage children, adolescents and their families to lead self reliant, stable and productive lives.
- Westside Children’s Center – Mission: supports underserved, vulnerable children and their families in West Los Angeles by providing a full range of crucial, multi-disciplinary services.