Supervisor Solis and LA County Redouble Effort to Ensure Every Foster Child has a Family and a Home of Their Own

LOS ANGELES, CA — As of February 2019, 89% or 16,176 of the children in the LA County foster care system live in a family setting. However, LA County’s goal is to ensure that every child has a family and a home to call their own. In furtherance of this moral and civic responsibility, today the Board of Supervisors approved a motion authored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, and co-authored by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, that utilizes state funding to partner with nonprofits that will support the County’s mission to recruit more resource families (also known as foster parents).

“No child should spend their childhood in a group home setting,” said Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. “I am committed to working toward the day when all children live with a nurturing and permanent family that supports a positive and successful path toward adulthood. Partnerships with RaiseAChild and FosterAll will help the County identify, train, and support future foster parents who are looking to welcome a child into their loving home.”

“Today’s motion will help the County identify critically important prospective families by providing additional funds to two of our most outstanding nonprofit partners,” said Supervisor Kuehl. “Every child deserves a safe and loving home and these resources will make that goal a reality for more and more children in foster care.”

In order to support the County Department of Children and Family Services’ (DCFS) strategies to recruit, retain, and support resource families, the County leverages State Foster Parent Recruitment Retention and Support (FPRRS) funding. If unused, this funding would expire by June 30th. Today’s motion directs these funds to RaiseAChild and FosterAll, two nonprofit organizations that have a successful history of recruiting resource families.

RaiseAChild recruits, educates, and nurtures supportive relationships with prospective resource families while partnering with DCFS and Foster Family Agencies to improve the process of placing foster children into safe and loving homes. RaiseAChild outperforms the national standard by advancing 23% of prospective resources families from the initial inquiry to final approval. RaiseAChild’s mission is to be a nationwide leader in the recruitment and support of all prospective resource families, including from the LGBTQ+ community, who are interested in building their family through foster care.

FosterAll recruits prospective resource families from faith communities and provides ongoing support to resource families so that they can provide safe and loving homes for children who have been abused and neglected. FosterAll is a leader in the recruitment and support of resource families: they operate over 100 foster care programs in faith communities, with 46% of families assigned to Foster Family Agencies being ultimately approved as resource families.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here