Why should you support foster families?

The simple answer is fostering is hard. Nationwide, 50% of foster parents quit before the end of their first year. (Source: National Counsel for Adoption)

In addition to caring for the children, the lives of foster families spin with nonstop activity – building relationships with parents and extended families; attending court hearings, doctors’ visits, WIC appointments and IEP meetings; and coordinating hundreds of scheduled – and sometimes unannounced – home visits by case workers, therapists, licensing specialists, Guardians Ad Litem, nurses and adoption workers. They say “Yes!”, get attached, say “Good-bye”, answer the phone and say “Yes!” again … over and over. It’s common for foster parents to find themselves overwhelmed.

Foster families fill a HUGE need in our communities, day in and day out, but they often feel unseen.

When you support a foster family, you’re helping to equip and encourage them to continue fostering and providing a stable, loving home for the children in their care. Stable, loving homes decrease trauma, promote healing, and increase positive outcomes for children in foster care.

Not everyone can foster, but everyone can do something! How can you support a foster family? How can you encourage your church and your community to support foster families?