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 […]
Community Support for Families: How Collective Care Works
What does a healthy community look like? Some may think of manicured lawns and flower beds, but the true mark of a healthy community is its ability to provide a safe and supportive environment for families and children to thrive. Yet in the United States, many families and children face a crisis of well-being. Oftentimes, […]
Faith-Based Foster Care Support: Every Child TN
Churches play a crucial support role in their communities, which means they’re often in the perfect position to help end their local child welfare crisis. While there is still a lot of work to be done in organizing these efforts, many places of worship are learning about the crisis and getting involved. In Tennessee, we […]
Reunification After Foster Care: A Father’s Fight for His Children
Parents seeking reunification after foster care must meet state requirements and follow specific steps. The process ensures a safe transition from foster care, but without guidance, the steps to reunify can overwhelm some parents. This is especially true for parents with few resources or little support. Our partner, Restore Hope, provides that guidance and support […]
How To Help Students in Foster Care: Managing School Stress
Stress can be a source of major problems in many areas of life, including schools. A 2015 NYU study found that “nearly half (49%) of all [high school] students reported feeling a great deal of stress on a daily basis.” School stress affects all students to varying degrees, but the instability of foster care often […]
Transition-Aged Youth In Foster Care: Community Heals
Perhaps the most often-overlooked population affected by the child welfare crisis is transition-aged youth. When it comes to foster care in particular, most people envision children between infancy and early teens. Yet, 13% of all kids in foster care are 17 or older (most states offer extended foster care for qualifying youth). Over 15,000 transition-aged […]
New Foster Parents Guide: Welcome Your First Foster Placement
Fostering children comes with many responsibilities and requirements, and new foster parents may feel overwhelmed. Even though the work can be incredibly meaningful, bringing a foster child into your home can be intimidating, especially since foster children often have trauma that they bring with them. To help you feel empowered and supported, we’ve compiled some […]
Parent Coaching for Families: How Trauma-Informed Care Preserved a Kinship Home
Trauma often strains relationships and threatens a family’s well-being, whether they’re foster, kinship, adoptive, or biological. When not treated, the effects may lead to broken or unhealthy relationships. Our partner, Chosen Care, exists to help children and their families connect through parent coaching. By using psychology-based strategies and trauma-informed care, they help build strong, stable […]
How to Become a Foster Parent in 2026
There are over 343,000 children in foster care across the United States, but only 186,000 foster homes. It often takes months or years before these children reunify with family, find permanency through adoption, or age out of care. During this crucial time, children urgently need ideal foster placements. Yet the licensing process sometimes overwhelms potential […]
Supporting Transition-Aged Youth in Foster Care
Few 18-year-olds are ready to be completely independent, yet thousands of young adults age out of foster care each year without a family or support system. These transition-aged youth (TAYs) enter adulthood alone without guidance, assistance, or encouragement. The outcomes are grim: 90% in chronic poverty, 80% of men incarcerated, and 70% of women pregnant […]
Prevent Foster Care: One Mom’s Journey Through the 100 Families Program
Every year, thousands of families in crisis risk separation–not because of abuse or neglect, but because they struggle with one or more of the 13 social determinants of health. Too often, a lack of coordination between local resources keeps families from getting the help they need. That’s where our partner Restore Hope steps in. Through […]
