Since its founding in 2006, Angels Foster Care has been improving the way foster care is delivered to children in Santa Barbara County and is thrilled to announce that their exceptional program of care has placed their 200th baby in an Angels foster home.
It was late on a recent Thursday afternoon and Jennifer, an Angels social worker, had finished a long day of court for one of the Angels children and was just leaving a visit with one of our Angels babies and his mom. Her phone rang and the familiar number from Child Welfare Services (CWS) flashed on the screen. As she placed the baby in his car seat and handed him a toy, she grabbed the call. Jennifer listened to the CWS worker explain that she needed a home immediately for a 3-month-old baby girl named Emily, and her sister, Maddy, 2. The CWS worker continued, telling Jennifer that the girls were now in her office, tired, confused, and with very little belongings—no extra clothes, no blankets, no toys. By now it is 6 p.m.
Jennifer safely returned the Angels baby to his Angels parents and went to work finding a match for these very young siblings. Keeping in mind the specific needs of the girls, Jennifer called Evan and Maria, Angels parents who have been fostering with Angels for more than two years. Maria answered the phone and because they have been well prepared and were ready, said yes to the girls immediately. Jennifer telephoned CWS to let the worker know they had a family who was ready to welcome the girls.
Meanwhile, Maria and Evan were busy getting their previously empty nursery ready for the girls. Sheets were put on the waiting crib and bed so the girls could sleep together in the same room. Jennifer swung by the Angels office to grab car seats, a diaper bag, handmade blankets, formula, bottles, diapers, and pajamas; items all donated to Angels by community churches, the Junior League, and Lion’s Club.
Within an hour, the girls were settling into their new home. Maria holding and rocking Emily in the living room while feeding her a bottle, and Evan in the kitchen with Maddy, giving her some dinner and making her laugh with his animal impersonations.
Emily and Maddy bring the total children served by Angels to 200!
This milestone is a big one for the Angels Foster Care team who have been helping local babies and toddlers and placing them in safe, loving, and stable Angels foster homes for the past 10 years.
Here is some important information about Angels Foster Care:
• Angels Foster Care specializes in placing newborn babies up to age 5.
• There are almost 200 children younger than 5 in Santa Barbara County foster care.
• The Angels Foster Care program with its policy of “one child, one placement and no change in caregivers” has had a positive impact on lowering statistics relating to the movement of young foster children. All research shows that this leads to secure attachment, cognitive development, emotional self-regulation, readiness for school, and healthy adult behaviors, and it positively impacts the lifelong mental health of young foster children.
• Almost 100 children placed with Angels Foster Care have been adopted—almost always by their Angels Foster Parent.
Angels Foster Care is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Angels Foster Care works with abused, abandoned, and neglected infants and toddlers born in Santa Barbara County, and on average manages the cases of 40 babies and toddlers per year.
Ninety percent of Angels children come from birth parents who struggle with alcohol, drug problems, and homelessness. Unfortunately, Angels Foster Care had to turn away 30 babies from its program last year due to a shortage of certified homes.
You can help.
More certified homes are needed. You can begin the inquiry process and application submission right away and then attend a training session at a later date.
Because it costs approximately $6,800 per year to recruit, train, certify, and supervise a foster family for one year, donations are always welcome.
Sign up to participate in the Baby Bottle Campaign throughout the month of October. Two hundred baby bottle banks will be distributed throughout the community, and local businesses, service groups, children’s groups, schools, or individuals are encouraged to take a baby bottle bank and spend the month of October filling it with money to honor the babies Angels Foster Care has helped and to make sure funding is in place to help even more babies in the coming years.
If you belong to a club, organization, or workplace that would like to have a presentation made about the current state of foster care and how people can get involved, please contact Angels Foster Care to set up a speaker presentation.
Visit angelsfostercare.org for more information.
Kelly White O’Neill is the executive director of Angels Foster Care. Send comments to the editor at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 15-22, 2016.