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TRANSFORMING CAREGIVING
BUILDING COMMUNITY
FOSTER TOGETHER NETWORK
a synergistic group of public and private partners committed to helping recruit and retain resource families in LA County.
WHO WE ARE
Co-founded in 2017 by The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Center for Strategic Partnerships, First 5 LA, and the Department of Children and Family Services, it has grown quickly to include the Department of Mental Health, Probation, foster family agencies, community leaders, parents, and former foster youth, all dedicated to together tackling our child welfare system’s greatest challenges.
WHY WE ARE
We believe and stand together to ensure all children are welcomed into a loving family that can support their growth, learning, healing and reunification or other permanency plans.
HOW WE CAME TO BE
In response to the crisis shortage of foster homes in 2017, First 5 LA and The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation launched a collective impact effort to make sure kids received the care they need in collaboration with the Center for Strategic Partnership, the LA County Department of Children and Family Services, and various public and private partners.
These partners formed a broad-based coalition of stakeholders, Foster Together Network, to increase the number of foster families in Los Angeles County. This coalition has since grown to include numerous foster family agencies, recruitment focused non-profits, community leaders, faith-based partners, LA County Department of Mental Health and the LA County Probation Department. It has launched influential pilots, worked with our County to improve its data systems and partnerships, and continues to grow.
JOIN US IN ACHIEVING SYSTEMIC CHANGE
It is an exciting time for the Foster Together Network and the transformation of the foster family recruitment and retention system in Los Angeles.
The Network is actively pursuing system change along three strategic domains: Data-Driven Decision Making, Equitable & Identity Affirming Care, and Cross-Sector Collaboration. We invite you to join these workgroups and be part of the movement.
We look forward to growing additional pilots and supporting additional system change strategies as the work evolves. We believe we have an opportunity to transform Los Angeles County, the State of California and serve as an example nationally for collaborative engagement in best practices advancing the recruitment and retention of foster families. This is an opportunity to be a part of the solution—to change the lives of children and improve the system that finds them a home.
