At any given time, there are between 750 and 800 children in foster care in the cities of Hampton Roads. Of these foster children, over approximately 80% are placed in non-relative foster homes and approximately 10% are placed in congregate care (aka, group homes). The vast majority of these kids will spend up to two years in foster care.  Historically, more than 25% of Virginia’s foster youth have four or more different homes during their time in foster care, which can be emotionally crippling for a child who already struggles with being separated from their family. These numbers drive Tidewater Friends of Foster Care’s mission to actively recruit the next generation of foster parents to ensure that family placement is always an available option for kids in their time of greatest need and that a child’s first placement in care is the right and last placement before permanency.

As part of our outreach, we have partnered with Old Dominion University’s Strome College of Business and Communication Department to develop a targeted marketing and media campaign for recruiting additional foster families. This endeavor has been successful in spawning interest and awareness of the needs of foster youth throughout Hampton Roads!

We also target outreach through our annual Foster Care Aware Block Party, an event aimed at recruiting new foster families through education on what it takes to foster children and teens in Hampton Roads. Foster Care Aware was the largest event of its kind and has proven to be successful in recruiting a significant number of new foster parents in Hampton Roads! Find out more about Foster Care Aware.