10 Easy Ways to Volunteer in Foster Care
The formal US foster care system is a complex collection of agencies meant to provide more resources and protection for children. Yet this mission is hard for the system to handle alone. There are more than 328,000 children in foster care and over 15,000 young people who age out each year with no family, but […]
What Is Child Welfare? A Clear Guide to How the System Works
When safety breaks down at home, child welfare becomes the bridge to stability. It begins with prevention and safe reunification whenever possible. If not, kinship and foster care, eventually adoption, become the next best options. The system spans courts, caseworkers, nonprofits, and caregivers, all working toward three goals: safety, permanency, and well-being. In this article, we take a […]
Why Do Foster Parents Quit? (And How You Can Help)
Foster parents don’t quit because they stop caring about kids. So why is foster family turnover so high? The answer often comes down to systemic gaps in communication and support. When this happens, children in foster care are the ones who pay the price. The good news is that we can all help close these […]
Apps for Foster Parents: Foster Friendly and More
Apps for foster parents put effective support at their fingertips. In the child welfare space, nonprofits and government agencies are embracing digital resources. Among their number is our Tennessee-based partner, the Governor’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative (GFBCI). With our help, the GFBCI created Every Child TN to better serve children and families involved in foster […]
Cope with Depression During the Holidays (Expert Strategies)
Holidays bring an atmosphere of joy and celebration, but proximity to the holiday spirit exacerbates the effects of depression and grief. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that “64% of people with mental illness report holidays make their conditions worse.” Use this guide to discover the root causes and effective strategies to cope […]
A Foster Care Success Story (Update: They’re Adopted!)
When Emily and John first felt called to be foster parents, they also felt intimidated. Both parents work in the medical field with two biological children at home, creating a busy schedule. They didn’t seem like the typical foster family, but the idea never left. They wanted to use their means to help children, so […]
Halloween Safety Tips for Foster Parents
Halloween is a magical time of the year for children, but kids in foster care may struggle to fit in around the holidays. In the United States, about 35% of children in foster care move homes two or more times per year. With such frequent uprooting, it can be easy to feel excluded from the […]
Teens Waiting for Adoption: Dreaming of a Family
Older youth and young adults in foster care face a much lower adoption rate than younger children. Because of this, teens waiting for adoption often need to wait for a long time. The most recent national data show: There are thousands of older teens waiting for adoption, and our partner Timothy Hill Ranch is committed […]
Church Wraparound Care with Every Child Tennessee
In the United States, there are only 186,000 foster families available for the 343,000 children in foster care. America urgently needs to recruit and retain ideal foster families, but challenges stall those efforts. In many cases, foster families feel isolated and unable to seek support when they need it. However, with locations in nearly every […]
What Is Collective Impact?
Society’s toughest problems rarely fall neatly within the mission of a single organization. Collective impact is the framework that turns isolated good work into coordinated, measurable change. Below is a practical guide to what collective impact is, how it functions in the nonprofit world, and how it powers our approach to ending the child welfare […]
School Challenges for Children in Foster Care: Educational Stability for Foster Youth
Students in foster care bring talent, grit, and potential to the classroom. They also face barriers most classmates never see: sudden school changes, gaps in records, untreated trauma, and missed credits that slow or derail graduation. Nationwide, only about half of the youth who spend time in foster care finish high school, and less than […]
Foster Care Mentors: Support for Youth Leaving Foster Care
The need for family doesn’t end once a young adult ages out of foster care. Over 15,000 youth graduate from state custody each year without achieving permanency, either through reunification with their birth families or through adoption. Mentorship offers the support of a family even after foster care ends, and one of the unsung groups […]
