Advocate
Advocating for Change in the System
There is a lot of misinformation and confusion surrounding children in foster care, the foster parents and relatives who care for them, and the biological parents who are working to reunify with their kids.
Foster Village honors the dignity of the children and families we serve, understanding the root causes of why a child ends up in the foster care system, facilitating relationships between foster families and biological families, and replicating communities of support around the nation. As part of our effort to build “community beyond the system,” we present honest and accurate information about our vulnerable neighbors, the challenges they face, and the need for a supportive community.
When churches, companies and individuals come alongside those involved in the child welfare system, something beautiful happens: all parties are changed for the better.
Partners in Permanency
We believe it takes a village for all families to thrive. And as we began to come alongside children in foster care and their caregivers, we also committed to coming alongside their first caregivers - their birth family.
Partners in Permanency is designed to ensure all children and families have a network of supportive relationships and resources to establish long-term safety and stability.
Since 2016, we've equipped hundreds of birth families who are working hard to care for and reunify with their children. And along the way, we have seen that the village is an essential piece of the permanency puzzle.
When foster parents and other caring community members walk alongside families, isolation ends. Families stay together, avoiding foster care altogether or reunifying with longer-lasting outcomes.
In fact, most children who enter foster care will either return home to their birth families or exit into the custody of biological relatives. Yet, there is a huge gap in post-reunification services available to help sustain these families.
Partners in Permanency steps into that gap. We work toward ongoing, committed relationships between our team, birth parents, and/or foster parents to best care for the children they love. We help everyone navigate the transition between homes, encourage teamwork, and help connect reunifying families to the resources and services that can truly help break cycles of generational adversity and keep families together
Partners in Permanency - General Interest Form
PARTNERS IN PERMANENCY GENERAL INTEREST FORM
Community Awareness
Though everyone is aware of the child welfare system, most people in our communities do not have personal experience with it. There are few ways to connect with and get to know children in foster care without personally becoming a foster parent. This often creates a gap between the need in the community and those who live their lives unaffected by it.
We create empathy and awareness between foster parents and children in foster care and the community at large, helping shed a light on the need through research and storytelling. We also speak at businesses, churches and community organizations to help educate on how the community can be involved with foster care. By building awareness, encouraging compassion and presenting needs, we give names and faces to those involved in foster care, thus building a bridge between those “in the system” and the community members who understand that we can make a difference when we work together.
Policy Reform
As we work on the front lines and connect personally with the needs of foster families and biological families, we understand many of the complex dynamics and unseen challenges families in the child welfare system face. We are here to bridge the gap between the people making the laws and creating the systems and the people living in them every day.
Our team regularly meets with local and national policy makers to present real life stories and share information about what we are seeing and hearing from families, what we believe needs to change and ways that we can more holistically serve vulnerable children and families. Using our personal experience, child development training and trauma-informed background, we strive to bring more dignity and humanity to our child welfare system and empower policy makers to better understand and serve the families they are there to help.
Affiliate Program
There are two questions we hear over and over: “Is there a Foster Village in my location?” and if not, “How can I start one?”
We’re humbled and grateful that this model has connected to the needs of so many, and we believe children and families across the nation deserve a village of love and support.
Through our affiliate program, we train, equip and empower others who are passionate about caring for children and families in the child welfare system to launch a Foster Village location in their communities. Each location is its own 501c3 that follows the Foster Village model and approach while responding to the unique needs of their location.
It is our dream that one day, children and families in all 50 states and in each community within those states will have access to high-quality services and the holistic support of a loving village as we work together to care for the vulnerable and bring dignity to the system.
“Foster Village is really and truly on the front lines of foster care. They know what it’s like to create community during those times of need and they are always available to provide the tangible items as well as support to new and seasoned foster parents. I always recommend them to friends that are just entering the world of fostering.” - Malayia
Life in Limbo®
Life in Limbo® is an interactive workshop designed by Fostering Great Ideas® to give participants the opportunity to step into the shoes of those who are affected by the foster care system - children, birth parents, foster parents, and kinship families.
As the only organization licensed in the Austin area by Fostering Great Ideas® to offer Life in Limbo®, we host it regularly to help our community gain a deeper, more empathetic understanding of foster care and give them opportunities for compassion.