Aspiranet Urges Families to Help Close Gap for California Foster Children in Need

Leading human services agency launches campaign to recruit 50 new foster-adoptive families. End Quote

Bakersfield, CA (1888PressRelease) July 29, 2015 - In California there are more than 58,000 children in foster care due to no fault of their own. Their families may have been homeless, or unable to care for them; some without the hope of reunification and the need for a forever home. In 2013, 51,000 children were adopted in the United States. Aspiranet, a leading California human services agency, is hoping to inspire at least 50 new families to open their hearts and homes to children in need of a loving, nurturing environment through its new statewide education campaign for adoption and foster care recruitment.

For years, Lacey Dunkin wanted to become a mother, but was not sure if she could adopt as a single parent. That changed one day in 2011 when she learned about Aspiranet in her search for a local adoption agency. Within a few months after becoming certified, her four foster daughters -all siblings-came into her care. Throughout her experience as a foster mother, Dunkin was able to build a trusting relationship with her foster daughters' birth mother, helping the girls maintain a close bond with her as she worked hard to regain her parental rights. However, once the young mother was able to reunify with her children in 2012, she felt strongly that Dunkin could offer a better life for the young girls than she could, and asked her if she would adopt the children, along with two additional daughters she also had. Without hesitation, Dunkin officially adopted all six girls who were between the ages 0 - 8. The adoption of her youngest daughter was made official in March 2015.

For 40 years, Aspiranet, one of the largest foster-adoption agencies in California, has worked to ensure children are placed in permanent, loving homes - touching the lives of more than 10,000 families. Aspiranet guides families through the process of concurrent planning that allows families to provide foster care for youth while they work to reunify with their birth family while also planning for adoption if the reunification plan is not successful.

The human service agency's new multi-media campaign will feature adoption and foster care outreach through television, radio, print, web and social media targeting 15 counties from the Central Coast to the Bay Area.

"Every child deserves the right to a loving, secure and permanent home to call their own. At Aspiranet, our mission is also to place-in addition to children-youth that have an even greater need for a family, such as older children, teenagers, youths with special needs, and sibling sets," said Diane Warne, Foster Care Director with Aspiranet. "We hope to welcome new foster-adoptive parents this year to help ensure all children in need are given the chance to grow and thrive in a loving atmosphere."

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