Child Welfare and Foster Care

35 Foster Youth Homelessness Statistics You Should Know

By Alternative Family Services / May 25, 2021

Here are some key foster youth homelessness statistics that reflects upon youth in foster care who experience homelessness.  National Foster Youth Homelessness Statistics  1. In the first four years after…

How Foster Care Works From Start To Finish

By Alternative Family Services / May 20, 2021

Here is an overview of how the foster care process works here in California, highlighting the main steps of foster care from removal to reunification, adoption, long-term care or emancipation.…

Foster Youth Education in California: What You Need to Know

By Alternative Family Services / July 2, 2020

Today, the state of foster youth education in the United States, including in California, is substandard. But, there are ways all of us can help children and youth in foster care get the education they deserve. By investing…

Foster Care Amid Coronavirus: How AFS Continues Critical Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Alternative Family Services / April 7, 2020

The ongoing spread of novel coronavirus is impacting all of us, and the COVID-19 pandemic is especially effecting the foster care and child welfare system. As youth continue to be…

Unpacking Foster Meaning

By Alternative Family Services / March 24, 2019

Curious about what the “foster” in foster care means? Let’s unpack the term in the realm of child welfare.  What does foster mean? If you look up “foster” in the dictionary,…

What is a Resource Parent?

By Alternative Family Services / March 3, 2019

Have you seen the term “resource parent” or “resource family” used on our site and wondered, what is a Resource Parent? Why do we and others in the child welfare space use…

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