The primary goal of the foster care system and Juvenile Court is to reunite children with their parent(s) and family. Unfortunately, this outcome is not always possible. Approximately 50% of the infants and toddlers placed in Angels homes over the past years have been adopted because the Juvenile Court could not safely return them to their parent(s). Due to the young age of the children in the Angels program, when reunification is not successful, adoption is the preferred plan.

When reunification fails and one of our Angels resource families chooses to adopt their foster child, we work with Child Welfare Services to ensure a smooth transition from fostering to adoption. Child Welfare Services waives the adoption home study fee for families who have fostered a child. Angels continues to provide support to each family and child throughout the adoption process.

One in four foster children enters the system before his or her first birthday. Newborns make up the largest percentage of this group.

Angels does not pay its Resource Parents to care for children. However, Angels families do receive a reimbursement of approximately $1300/month from Child Welfare Services to cover expenses such as diapers, clothing, and other necessities. Families may also receive assistance for additional food costs through the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. All medical and legal expenses are covered directly by the State of California.

Typically, the medical issues Angels babies face are related to neglect, abandonment, malnutrition, physical abuse, or in-utero substance exposure they may have experienced. Responsive and nurturing families are one of the very important remedies for these maladies.

Every child receives Medi-Cal coverage. Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid health care program. This program pays for a variety of medical services (ie. medical, dental, counseling, and other health-related expenses) for children in foster care.

Most children placed in foster care have court-ordered reunification plans, including visitation with their parent/s. Visitation is typically supervised by Angels staff and held at Angels offices or Child Welfare Services offices. Visits do not happen at the home of the resource parents. Resource parents’ names and addresses are always kept confidential.

Each child’s situation is different. The Juvenile Court offers reunification services to most parents. However, parents must complete their court-ordered case plan to regain custody.

At Angels, we ask that our resource families commit to caring for the child in their home until a decision is made about the child's permanent placement. At that time, children are typically either reunified with their parents, transitioned to relative homes, or the adoption process begins.

You should expect to provide care for a child in foster care for 7-12 months, though this can be shorter or longer depending on the specifics of the child’s case.

Angels is here to support you every step of the way, by answering your questions and/or guiding you to the proper resources for help. Our social workers are always available to offer support on a daily or emergency basis and "seasoned Angels Resource Parents" often mentor new families.

Supportersof the agency make generous donations of many baby products for our Angels resource families to utilize.