With approximately 443,000 children in America’s child welfare system, the need for foster parents is overwhelming. Yet a commonly cited reason people don’t become foster parents is their concern about being able to meet the demands of work.
FosterMore, a Los Angeles-based organization working to create greater understanding, empathy and action to improve the future of youth in foster care, launched the Foster Care Friendly Workplace initiative to encourage supportive workplaces for employees willing to open their homes—and their hearts—to children. The initiative has developed a Foster Care Friendly Workplace Certification for employers that adopt a set of policies to help workers who are fostering a child, for instance by providing:
