BOOST A FOSTER FAMILY INC

The primary goals of Boost a Foster Family are two-fold. First, Boost a Foster Family seeks to help provide a safe environment for vulnerable children placed in low-income kinship foster homes by providing safety items and services. Secondly, Boost a Foster Family hopes to remove some of the financial barriers kinship foster families experience when trying to qualify for foster care licensure.

Boost a Foster Family receives referrals from the Arizona Department of Child Safety and Arizona foster care licensing agencies of low-income kinship families needing safety items and services. Once a referral is accepted, Boost a Foster Family representatives will supply the items or coordinate the services swiftly to ensure that the home meets safety standards (as defined by the Arizona Office of Licensing and Regulation). Boost a Foster Family works with a number of business and community partners to assist in the provision of items and services.

Boost a Foster Family has a core network of volunteers who devote time and resources to the organization. In addition, Boost a Foster Family contracts with one social worker to coordinate the provision of services and outreach to the community.

Furthermore, Boost a Foster Family networks with AZ Dept. of Child Safety, Arizona foster care licensing agencies, kinship coalitions and other foster care charities. These networks connect Boost a Foster Family to the kinship community and assists with a seamless provision of services thus reducing duplication of those services. Boost a Foster Family also partners with a number of local businesses, churches and civic groups that assist with in-kind donations, services and specialized needs.

Boost a Foster Family is an Arizona Qualified Foster Care Organization. Thus, donations made by Arizona donors may qualify for a tax credit. This designation allows Boost a Foster Family to seek donations from private individuals, which provides the majority of funding for Boost a Foster Family. Boost a Foster Family is committed to keeping administrative costs to a minimum. Administrative costs are underwritten by a small group of founding donors so that all donations collected in the community go toward servicing low income kinship families.

Since incorporating in June of 2016, Boost a Foster Family has seen incredible growth. In 2017, Boost’s first full year of service, Boost served 207 families with 368 children. Last year (2021), Boost served 1103 families with 2886 children. Since incorporating in 2016, Boost a Foster Family has served over 3,500 families with over 10,350 children (over 6,600 of those children were foster children in Arizona).

Boost a Foster Family has become a well-known charity in the foster care community having participated in the Arizona KIDS Consortium, as a Arizona Qualified Foster Care Organization, through numerous community news articles, participation in the Kinship Coalition, maintaining close relationships with other foster care agencies, and serving as a liaison to the Department of Child Safety and the Office of Licensing and Regulation.

Over the last two years, Boost a Foster Family has seen an increase of referrals from the Department of Child Safety, calling on Boost a Foster Family to get involved earlier in the process, often at the point of placement. This allows families to have the items/services needed for a safe environment at the earliest possible point.

The pandemic of 2020 has brought additional concerns about the stability of foster care placements. Families already managing the stressors of the foster care system, having to also manage the stressors of the pandemic. As a result, April through June of 2020, Boost a Foster Family joined with 14 other foster care nonprofits in a consortium called One For All (https://one4allaz.com/) to address the needs of foster families. Together All For One provided 2422 resources to 415 families helping 916 foster children. This involvement lead to a grant and designation from the Governor's Arizona Coronavirus Relief Fund. One4All reunited in the fall of 2021 to address the lack of foster homes in Arizona by providing services for families taking on additional placements. Boost a Foster Family was proud to be part of this statewide initiative as well.