In honor of National Foster Care month and as leaders within Utah’s interfaith community, we join state leadership, child welfare professionals and advocates in an urgent call for more families in Utah to become licensed foster parents. Children in foster care are our most vulnerable children and need safe, stable, and loving homes to provide care while their families work on healing.
In Utah there is a critical shortage of foster families. There are nearly 2,000 children in Utah’s Foster Care system at any given time. In order to fully support these children, we need hundreds more families to open their homes. Despite the best efforts of our currently licensed foster parents, our state has an immediate and pressing need for homes that can care for children older than nine and sibling groups of three or more youth. Utah is also in need of more homes open to providing permanency to older youth with no parents or legal guardians, giving critical support to youth transitioning to adulthood.
We encourage families in Utah to consider how they can best show up for Utah’s most vulnerable children. We encourage Utahns to explore the possibility of becoming licensed foster parents or to support existing foster families in whatever capacity they can. By coming together as a community, we can make a profound difference in the lives of these children and provide them with the love, stability, and support they need to thrive.
Please contact Utah Foster Care by visiting utahfostercare.org to find out more about how you can make a difference in the lives of Utah’s children. Please contact Raise the Future to find out more about homes for youth waiting for permanency by visiting raisethefuture.org.
