Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, an organization created by grandmother Mary Ann Sterling from Florida, helps bring resources and builds a support base for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. “A study was done at the University of South Florida that shows that children do far better in relative placement than they do in foster care. Because it’s family,” said Sterling. The organization assists not only with developing parenting skills for this new generation, but also assists with the legal process of gaining guardianship and provides financial help to families. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren started with only six members, but has now helped thousands of grandparents.

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Young adults who have had foster care experience in Ventura County, California, can now apply to participate in a supplemental income pilot program called VC Thrive, where they will receive monthly cash assistance for 18 months. The Ventura County Human Services Agency and James Storehouse, a Ventura-based nonprofit that supports children in foster care, have partnered to spearhead this program, hoping to break the cycle of poverty among young adults with foster care experience. 150 eligible young adults ages 21 to 26 will receive $1,000 per month over the eighteen-month period. One of these young adults, Christopher Kahler, shared that this financial assistance will enable him to save up for a car and no longer live paycheck to paycheck. Kahler says, “It is truly a blessing...I am extremely excited to be a part of the program.”



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Jersey Mike’s “Cookies for Kids” campaign in Oklahoma City, Norman, and Stillwater, OK, raised nearly $21,000 for Sunbeam, a local foster care agency. Donating 100% of the cookie sales, Jersey Mike’s contributed a total of $20,963. Charlie Brown, franchisee and area director of the chain, highlighted Jersey Mike’s community commitment to supporting foster parents and providing a safe and nurturing environment for children. Sunbeam is one of Oklahoma’s 15 private foster care agencies that offer temporary support and care for children under the custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Sarah Rahhal, Sunbeam’s CEO, expressed her gratitude for the community’s generous support, illuminating the importance of a loving environment for every child in foster care.

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Grace Ward, a junior at the University of Illinois with foster care experience, is now a peer advocate for students who have experienced foster care. She is part of the Youth in Care- College Advocate Program (Y-CAP) in Illinois, an initiative that pairs peer advocates with students with foster care experience to provide support. Y-CAP addresses challenges faced by these students, offering mentorship, guidance, and a sense of community. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) launched the $200,000 program on six campuses this year after its youth advisory board signaled that college-bound youth with foster care experience needed more support in college. Through this initiative, Y-CAP aims to create a supportive network for these students as they navigate their post-secondary education.



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A collaboration was recently made between Dawn Foods, a baking manufacturer, and For Goodness Cakes, a national non-profit, to celebrate birthdays for children in foster care. For Goodness Cakes provides birthday cakes for children in foster care, and they just started their 30th chapter in Jackson, MI. Sharing similar beliefs and mottos, as Sarah Richmond, Director of Corporate Giving at Dawn says, “We celebrate life’s sweet moments through bakery,” Dawn Foods and For Goodness Cakes hope that their collaboration can bring more sweet moments to children in foster care through the efforts of volunteer cake bakers and decorators.



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Anthony Barrows and Takkeem Morgan, advocates with lived experience in foster care, were honored at the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America National Conference hosted by the Treehouse Foundation earlier this month. The conference convened industry leaders with experience in the foster care system to discuss a range of topics aimed at transforming the child welfare system, like Barrows, a managing partner at Project Evident, and Morgan, the founder of the Mosaic ParentHub. Treehouse Foundation Founder Judy Cockerton hopes that this conference, showcasing the talent and passion of child welfare lived experience experts, will gain the attention of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, who still has to appoint a permanent DCF leader after the former Commissioner stepped down. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she looked at this amazing cohort as a pool of candidates for this job, and we had a lived experience leader in the Commissioner’s seat?” Cockerton said. “That would be outstanding, and Massachusetts could lead the country forward.”



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