The Ventura County Foster Parent Association - An Overview

Originally founded in 1984 as a lose association of foster care providers looking to exchange knowledge and information, the Ventura County Foster Parent Association is now chartered as Chapter 25 of the California State Foster Parent Association. We are a registered 501(c) 3 non-profit charity with the Internal Revenue Service and serve over 800 foster and kinship care children, as well support more than 200 foster care providers, in Ventura County.

Our membership is comprised of caring foster and kinship care providers who donate their time, knowledge, and personal resources towards providing a better a life for those who are in a helpless position. Our Board of Directors and Officers have over 70 years of combined knowledge and experience in foster care, kinship care, behavior health, and child development and take every opportunity that is presented to teach, support, and be an example for those in the community.

We partner with the Ventura County Human Services Agency, Ventura County Children and Family Services, and other key state and county organizations and maintain a positive relationship that allows us to build close ties with those who oversee any child who is placed in a foster or kinship care home. We support many other worthy organizations in Ventura County who share our mission to support foster and kinship care children and their needs.

Our association is governed by a board of directors who are elected from our membership and who meet the requirements of office as outlined in our Constitution and By-Laws. The Board of Directors meets at least monthly to oversee the activities of the association as well as to address, whenever possible, the needs of our members, foster and kinship care providers, and most importantly the foster children in the Ventura County.

The VCFPA unanimously agrees that our mission and our core beliefs shall be the guiding force in all our activities and further to support and promote these beliefs to the community at large.

Our Mission:

It is the mission of Ventura County Foster Parent Association to unite diverse and multi-cultural foster parents in their goal to provide excellent care for at-risk youth, as well as provide support, when appropriate, to birth families in their efforts toward family reunification. Furthermore, we promote and support foster care services, operate and administer outreach programs that support children in foster and kinship care, and provide ongoing professional support and training to foster parents in Ventura County.

We feel strongly that our purpose is critical and contributes to the overall wellbeing of both the foster children and the families who care for them. Every day, foster parents are called upon to open their hearts and homes to help children, who through no fault of their own, and without warning, must leave everything they've ever known behind.

Our Core Beliefs:

Our core beliefs are the guilding force in everything we do. We believe...

...that every child deserves a voice and to be heard,

...that every child deserves to love and be loved,

...that every child deserves an equal opportunity,

...that every child deserves a safe place to call home,

...that every child matters.

Who do we help?

Who we help is simple... we help the foster children and foster and kinship care families of Ventura County. To understand the details a little better please consider the following information that the VCFPA has compiled from demographic information that has been made publically available by the Ventura County Human Services Agency, Children and Family Services.

For calendar year 2010:

FACT: At any given time there are over 800 children in foster or kinship care in Ventura County

FACT: Approximately 300 children leave the foster care system each year, but are replaced by an equal number by the end of that same year.

FACT: There is a deficit of foster homes to foster children in Ventura County. There are only 201 foster homes in the county.

FACT: 46% of all children in Ventura County are removed due to neglect.

FACT: 37% of children in Foster Care are age infant to five, 29% are age six to 12 years, and 34% are age 12-18 years.

FACT: 52% of all children in care are Latino, 39% are white, and the balance is other ethnicities.

FACT: 52% of all foster children who are adopted are adopted by a current or former foster parent.

How do we help?

We provide material and non-material support to the foster children and families of this county by offering:

• New and Used Clothing
• Personal care items
• Shoes
• Bedding
• Infant and Toddler Items
• Referral Services for social, medical, psychological, and financial support.
• Professional Continuing Education Services to Foster and Kinship Care Providers
• Training and Certification Education Services to Foster and Kinship Care Providers.