Foster parents are "unsung heroes" in Kern County. Each year, hundreds of heroic individuals and families enlist to serve and support abused and neglected children. Foster families help hurting children to find peace, hope and love during crisis. These unsung heroes deserve thanks and appreciation. Without foster families rising to address the cry of abused and neglected children, our community suffers and a generation of children is lost.

There are over 2,500 children in the out-of-home placement system in Kern County. Many of these children will reunite with their families and simply need a temporary placement as their biological parents fulfill requirements necessary to get their children back. Unfortunately, other children will never return to their biological family and need long-term solutions such as adoption, guardianship or permanent foster care. Many of the foster parents who care for children in foster care choose to become the "forever families" and raise children through adulthood. This is heroism at its finest!

The unsung heroes of foster care deserve our thanks. Just as warriors in our nation give their life sacrificially in battle, these "warriors" on the home front are battling the giant of child abuse and neglect by preparing the next generation for success. Foster families restore hope, rebuild dreams and extend love and grace to better children in their care and thereby our community.