May is Foster Care Awareness Month

Foster Care Resources

Orientation Sessions
Opening your heart and home to a child is a wonderful and life-changing experience for parent and child alike. There are currently nearly 17,000 children in foster care in New York City, from infants to teenagers. Most are eventually able to return to their birth families and just need temporary foster homes. Some children need permanent homes through adoption. Adoption and Foster Care orientations happen throughout the City and in nearby communities. To learn more and to find an orientation session in your neighborhood, please contact us at 212-676-WISH, or 3-1-1 in NYC,  or click here

Support for Foster Parents
Circle of Support is an ACS-sponsored neighborhood-based support group for foster, kinship and adoptive parents. It conducts regular meetings close to home. The innovative program is designed to enhance access and support for foster, kinship and adoptive parents in local communities. To find a local group in each of the five boroughs, visit the Circle of Support Web page

Workshops and Training for Foster/Adoptive Parents
Center for Foster Parent Training (CFPT) at the Hunter College School of Social Work has created a new Web site with links to foster parent training workshops offered throughout New York City by a wide variety of organizations devoted to helping parents care for their children. To learn more about workshops and other training opportunities located in neighborhoods all around the City that can help you meet the needs of your children and network with other parents, visit CFPT Website

Wednesday’s Child
Wednesday's Child is a part of the Freddie Mac Foundation's national campaign to increase adoptions of children in foster care. Each Wednesday (and again on Sunday mornings), a child in foster care who is waiting for a loving, adoptive home is profiled during the evening news on WNBC 4. ACS invites you to subscribe to our weekly electronic newsletter so that you can stay informed about foster care and adoption news and get involved in helping a child.

Heart Gallery
Heart Gallery, New York City, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about children who are living in foster care and encouraging New Yorkers to open their hearts and homes through adoption. Photographers involved in the Heart Gallery project volunteer their talents by taking portraits that help capture the individuality and spirit of each child waiting to be adopted. The photographs are then displayed in traveling gallery exhibits and on the Internet. ACS works with the Heart Gallery to exhibit these photos throughout the five boroughs. The first exhibit was held in June of 2007. To learn more and to view photos of youth awaiting adoption, go to www.heartgallerynyc.org

Foster Care Overview
To find out more about becoming a foster parent, visit the New York State Web site for the Office of Children’s and Family Services for its list of FAQs (frequently asked questions).