Dear Friends,

May is National Foster Care Month and this year's theme is "Building Blocks Towards Permanent Families."  While this is a special time set aside for the much deserved recognition of our foster parent partners, it is important to acknowledge the vital role they play daily in the fulfillment of our mission and vision to "protect children, strengthen families and change lives."    

Celebrating Brevard's Foster Parents and Families 

May is National Foster Care Month and an opportunity for us to recognize the hundreds of foster parents in Brevard who open their hearts and homes to abused and neglected children and teens who are in need of temporary safe surroundings to heal and grow while their families work towards reunification.

Our community's foster families are committed to welcoming youth into their lives, treating them as members of their families and providing them with structure, guidance, support. Most of all, the offer a place a child can call home for a day, a month, a year or more. Through our Quality Parenting Initiative, foster parents learn how to address a child's emotional, health and educational needs, mitigate the effects of trauma a youth may have suffered, and assist in the reunification of a child and his or her family.

Each and every day, our foster parents and their families dedicate themselves to our most vulnerable children. For this, we can't say "Thank You" enough!

If you've ever considered becoming a foster parent and would like to learn more, visit the Foster Care - Fostering Hope section of our website or the National Foster Parent Association.

A Devereux foster parent since 2011, Shelley McKenzie (pictured with her son, Tyler) encourages her foster teens to be involved in the community and prepare for the future.

The idea of five teenagers in one house would seem daunting to even the bravest of parents. But for Shelley McKenzie, 55, it's a joy. Since becoming a foster parent in 2011, the Merritt Island mom has cared for nine children, most of them teenagers.

"When my husband Doug died in 2005, I got used to taking care of our two teenage sons myself. It was just the three of us," she explains, "But as they got older, they didn't need me as much. This big old house on two acres felt lonely. More importantly, I realized I had more love to give." 

But Shelley knew it wasn't a decision she should make on her own. She sat down with her sons, Tyler (20) and Travis (16), to discuss becoming a foster family. 

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The Devereux Florida Child Placing Agency (CPA) is responsible for the recruitment, initial licensing, re-licensure, placement and day-to-day management of family foster homes in Brevard County through a contract with Brevard Family Partnership.  The program currently has 118 licensed family foster homes serving 182 of Brevard's children.

Recruitment and retention of quality foster families is an ongoing effort of Devereux Florida as the number of children entering care continues to grow.  

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May 26-- Offices closed for Memorial Day