Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Coming up....

Advance Movie Screening Event

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1"

Thursday, November 17

.....at a Santa Barbara theater to be announced soon!

Join other Twilight fans for an exclusive preview of the new film! Proceeds benefit Angels Foster Care. If you'd like to be placed on our mailing list for this event, please click here to send us an email requesting updates on the Twilight Event.

Happy Summer to everyone! It is already beginning to fly by. I can't believe June is almost over!

It has been busy lately here at Angels. Many of our families have been finalizing adoptions, which has been a pleasure to celebrate with them! We've also been busy with several new placements over the past month or so. We are now at a total of 91 children that have been placed in our foster homes. 100 is just around the corner....

Monday, May 16, 2011

Statistics on Foster Care in Santa Barbara County

Check out these statistics from kidsdata.org Taking a look at Santa Barbara County specifically, and also California at large.

Number of Children in Foster Care: 1998 - 2010

Number of Children in Foster Care, by Age: 2010

Santa Barbara County

Number

Under 1

20

Ages 1-2

82

Ages 3-5

104

Ages 6-10

140

Ages 11-15

151

Ages 16-20

76

Total Children in Foster Care

573

California

Number

Under 1

3,115

Ages 1-2

7,406

Ages 3-5

8,605

Ages 6-10

11,986

Ages 11-15

15,321

Ages 16-20

11,579

Total Children in Foster Care

58,012

Number of Children in Foster Care, by Race/Ethnicity: 2010

Santa Barbara County	Number

African American/Black	40
Asian/Pacific Islander	1
Caucasian/White	153
Hispanic/Latino	376
Native American	3
Total Children in Foster Care	573

California	Number

African American/Black	14,946
Asian/Pacific Islander	1,497
Caucasian/White	14,375
Hispanic/Latino	26,365
Native American	778
Total Children in Foster Care	58,012

First Entries into Foster Care, by Reason for Removal: 2007-2009

Santa Barbara County	Percent

Neglect	87.2%
Physical Abuse	8.4%
Sexual Abuse	1.6%
Other	2.8%

California	Percent

Neglect	79.7%
Physical Abuse	11.0%
Sexual Abuse	3.5%
Other	5.8%

Friday, May 6, 2011

May is National Foster Care Month

May is National Foster Care Month...You Can Change a Lifetime!

Each May, National Foster Care Month provides an opportunity to shine a light on the experiences of the more than 400,000 children and youth in the foster care system. The campaign raises awareness about the urgent needs of these young people and encourages citizens from every walk of life to get involved – as foster or adoptive parents, volunteers, mentors, employers or in other ways.

With the help of dedicated people, many formerly abused or neglected children and teens will either reunite safely with their parents, be cared for by relatives or be adopted by loving families. Many children would not have to enter foster care at all if more states provided support and services to help families cope with crises early on.

Thanks to the many advocates, child welfare professionals, elected officials and support groups around the country, the total number of children in foster care has decreased over recent years. But more help is needed.

Every year, approximately 30,000 young people leave the foster care system without lifelong families – most at age 18. On their own, these young adults must navigate a weakened economy offering fewer jobs and less support for vital services such as housing. They need – and deserve – caring adults who love and support them.

We call on all Americans to join us in helping to change a lifetime of a child or youth in foster care. No matter who you are or how much time you have to give, you can help create permanent, lifelong connections for these children and youth.

All children — including the 424,000 American children and youth in foster care — deserve a safe, happy life. Young people in foster care especially need nurturing adults on their side because their own families are in crisis and unable to care for them.

Source: http://www.fostercaremonth.org/Pages/default.aspx

For more information on National Foster Care Month click here

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Material Donations

Angels Foster Care receives regular inquires about the donation of material items. We appreciate the generosity of those in the community and are touched by how many people want to help! It does make a difference. Please read more to understand how we use material donations and what types of material donations we are able to accept.

Often times when children arrive to our foster homes they come with nothing. Through the support of donations, Angels is able to provide each foster family with a "placement kit" when they welcome a child who is in need into their home. This placement kit provides the family with some of the basic immediate needs so they don't have to rush out right away just to buy a onsie or a pack of diapers! Placement kits typically include a starter supply of:

Diapers

Wipes

Bottles

Clothing

Blankets

Burp Clothes

Swaddle Clothes

Organizations such as the Lions Club and the Assistance League have also donated car seats to Angels. This has allowed each of our families to have immediate access to a brand new, safe, and age appropriate car seat.

However, please note that material donations are accepted on a case by case basis and we limited in what we are able to accept. There are several reasons behind this:

1) State regulations require that the items that we provide to children under are care are new, so we are not able to accept used items.

2) Once a child is placed with an Angels family their foster parents are responsible for providing for their material needs. All foster parents do receive a fixed amount of financial assistance from the State in order to re-imburse some of the costs related to caring for a foster child. Truth be told, our homes are so great- most of the time are kiddos are showered with love and are probably some of the best dressed kids in town!

3) There is a lot of baby stuff out there and we have limited storage space in our offices!

We are ALWAYS accepting monetary donations, which make a tremendous impact in supporting children in need and supporting the work we do here at Angels Foster Care. Please go to this link if you wish to make an online donation http://www.angelssb.com/donate/index.htm.

Please continue to contact us if you are ever interested in making ANY type of donation! Different needs arise at different times and it can never hurt to ask!