Every day, 50-75 Sonoma County children and teens need a safe place to live in our community. There’s an URGENT NEED for foster parents and adoptive families to open their homes to local foster children and give them a place they can feel safe, wanted and loved.

You can:

·       Provide a temporary home as an emergency foster parent or foster parent, 

·       Foster parent a child with the potential of adoption, or 

·       Rent out a room and act as a mentor to an older foster youth going to school or working.

Learn about whether foster parenting is right for you at Explore Foster Parenting, a one-hour discussion held monthly, 6-7 p.m., at 2255 Challenger Way, Suite 100, Santa Rosa. Dates for 2019 are: June 24, July 22, Aug. 26, Sept. 23, Oct. 28, Nov. 25 and Dec. 16. For information and to reserve a seat, call (707) 565-4274.

Hear from experienced foster parents and local foster care agencies, including the Sonoma County Human Services Department Family, Youth and Children’s Division, TLC Child & Family Services,Alternative Family Services, Lilliput Families and Seneca. Learn about the different types of foster parents, so you can choose what could work for your family.

For more about becoming a Sonoma County foster parent, visit sonomafostercare.org.