Get Involved with Foster Care, Change a Lifetime
Every day, nearly a half-million children and youth depend on foster care in America – through no fault of their own.
President Obama has dedicated May as National Foster Care month and during this month we celebrate foster families who provide the loving and nurturing care for children in need. For kids in foster care, the state is their only parent and we need to be better parents.
It is our responsibility to make sure that our children have every opportunity to become productive citizens. But unfortunately, a disproportionate number of foster care youth end up homeless and in the juvenile-justice system.
I want this Foster Care Month to be more than just awareness. I want it to be about action. While Speaker in California, I championed a bill that extended the foster care emancipation age to 21 – helping youth continue to be supported during crucial years of development.
Now in the U.S. House of Representatives, I've introduced two bills honoring and assisting foster youth. First a Congressional Resolution Recognizing May as National Foster Care Month, honoring foster youth and parents. Second, H.R.2012 Foster Care Mentoring Act focused on connecting foster care youth with responsible, caring adults.
I hope that you too will take this month to support young people in foster care, and to recognize the committed adults who work on their behalf each day, so that every other month of the year kids and youth in foster care have more stability and more opportunity.
We need to make it easier for foster youth to get an education, a job, and become self sufficient and not have homelessness or incarceration be the default.
No matter how much time you have to give, you can do something positive that will change a lifetime for a young person in foster care.
IF YOU CAN FOSTER YOUTH ...
Call 1-800-KIDS-4-US (543-7487)
Helful Links
Los Angeles County Department of Childern and Family Services: DCFS Resource Family Recruitment Section hosts monthly Resource (Foster & Adoptive) Parent Orientations. View the class schedule for may or june. Interested participants need to contact 888-811-1121 to register for the orientation.
Dave Thomas Foundation & Wendy's Wonderful Kids: maintains a network of adoption professionals that work for public and private adoption agencies and provides free educational resources, promotes awareness, and supports adoption professionals and agencies throughout the United States and Canada to ensure that every child finds a forever home.
Child Welfare
Administration for Children and Families
http://www.acf.hhs.gov
CA Children and Family Services Division
http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/cfsweb/
CA Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare
http://www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org
Chapin Hall Center for Children
http://www.chapinhall.org
Child Welfare Information Gateway
http://www.childwelfare.gov
Child Welfare League of America
http://www.cwla.org
First 5 California
http://www.ccfc.ac.gov
First 5 Los Angeles
http://www.first5la.org
National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention
http://www.friendsnrc.org
United Way of Greater Los Angeles
http://www.unitedwayla.org
Early Childhood Education/Child Care
CA Child Care Resource & Referral Network
http://www.rrnetwork.org
CA Community Care Licensing Division
http://ccld.ca.gov
CA Department of Education/Child Development Division
http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/
Infant Development Association of California (IDA)
http://www.idaofcal.org
LA Office of Child Care
http://www.lacountychildcare.org
Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP)
http://laup.net
National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA)
http://www.naccrra.org
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
http://www.naeyc.org
National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)
Recognition and Response: Pathways to School Success for Young Children
http://www.recognitionandresponse.org
Preschool California
http://www.preschoolcalifornia.org
Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC)
http://www.pitc.org
Project ABC-LA
http://www.projectabc-la.org
Health
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
http://www.aap.org
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/National Center on Birth Defects & Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/
Healthy City LA
http://www.healthycity.org
Maternal and Child Health Library
http://www.mchlibrary.info
UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities
http://www.healthychild.ucla.edu/