Faces of Foster Care

Honoring National Foster Care Month with stories of individuals connected to foster care: From parents, youth in foster care, to foster parents. Light dinner provided.

RSVP: facesoffostercare.eventbrite.com
Light dinner provided. Thank you very much to Entrata for hosting the event!

Chris Harrington, Entrata CRO and former foster youth – Chris grew up in foster care having experienced four different foster homes. He tells a powerful story of how he got to where he is today and the people who made a difference in his life.

Francisco Ysidro, former foster youth – Francisco spent many years in the local foster care system. He was exposed to a lot of abuse, neglect, and trauma as a child. Francisco felt lost and that his life didn’t serve much purpose, and he was taught to believe that others misfortune was his fault and he was a burden to them. Fortunately, there were a lot of people along the way who cared for him, were patient with him, and supported him as he desired to change the trajectory of his life path laid front of him. Francisco graduated High School in 2019 with the Summit Award and the Emerging Leader Award. He is attending Utah Valley University studying Criminal Justice. He hopes to be a voice to those who have experiences similar stories as his.

Lauren Hoffman, former foster youth – Lauren spent eight years in Oregon’s foster care system, finding permanency with her foster parents. She entered foster care as a teen and had a strained relationship with her biological mother. She has involved herself in different organizations and causes and worked with youth in various capacities. Her most recent project includes a podcast for former foster youth, premiering this fall.

Stevoni Doyle, parent – Stevoni Doyle is a recovering addict of 18 years. She had her 4 children removed from her custody, due to her substance abuse addiction and not being able to safely parent her children. Her children were adopted by two different foster families. After her release from prison one adoptive family invited her to be part of their lives, and help co-parent the children.

Rachel and Carson Garrett, foster parents – Rachel and Carson have two young children and recently reunified two teen boys with their father. They keep in touch frequently and have valuable insight into the foster parenting mission. Rachel is currently working on a Masters Degree studying trauma and Carson works at MX as an Enterprise Account Executive.

Did you know?

• There are 2123 Utah children currently in foster care.
• Nationally, one in three children in foster care are LGBTQ.
• Teens make up nearly half of children in foster care.
• Substance use disorder is a contributing factor in about 80% of children entering foster care.
• In Utah, most children are in foster care for about 13 months.
• More than two-thirds of children who enter foster care return to live with their birth parents or another relative.
• Last year 850 children were adopted from foster care in Utah, whether by relatives or by foster families.
• Seven out of ten children in foster care have siblings.
• One in four children in foster care in Utah are Latino.

Interested in learning more about becoming a foster parent, donating, or getting involved?