Family Finding

We find forever families for children who are in foster care.

In the St. Louis area, there are more than 4,500 children in foster care. When a child enters State custody, their cases are referred to a number of child welfare agencies. They turn to the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition for their most difficult cases.

It’s simple: our innovative approach works. Our programs are research-backed and are currently being replicated at more than 20 other agencies around the country.

30 Days to Family®

30 Days to Family® is a short-term intervention to diligently search for a child’s relatives and kin to identify potential placement options and supports. The initial search is for parents, grandparents, and siblings, but the goal is to identify 80 additional relatives. Because placements can be fragile, the goal is to identify one primary placement provider and one to two other relatives or kin as potential back-up placement providers. All branches of the family are explored with equal interest.

A Place to Call Home

Welcome to ‘A Place to Call Home,’ the heartwarming biweekly segment brought to you by KSDK 5 On Your Side and sponsored by Vantage Credit Union. Our award-winning program shines a spotlight on children who are legally free for adoption, showcasing their unique personalities, interests, and hobbies in carefully crafted visuals.

Extreme Recruitment®

Extreme Recruitment® works diligently to find permanency for children labeled hardest to place by using 12-20 weeks of intensive recruitment efforts and permanency preparation. Children labeled hardest to place are often older youth, sibling groups or children with unique physical or mental needs.

Family Connections

Family Connections is a hands-on family-finding program devoted to the mission of finding loving and supportive homes for children in foster care by (re)connecting them with their relatives. Our dedicated team operates like private investigators, employing a range of advanced techniques such as cold calling, in-person visits, thorough background checks, and extensive internet searches. Through these efforts, we construct an intricate family tree for each child, uncovering an average of 100 relatives and ensuring a wide array of placement options.

Family Development

Family Development is dedicated to supporting prospective caregivers on their journey to become licensed foster and adoptive parents, ensuring they are license-ready to offer safe, healing, and nurturing homes to children in need within 120 days. Our team of specialists offers invaluable resources and guidance, assisting families through the MO pre-service training, assessments, and home studies. We work collaboratively with other child welfare agencies to facilitate the licensing process, providing ongoing support and removing any barriers to placement to ensure the stability of children and families.

RESPOND

RESPOND is a culturally competent approach to foster care, designed to recruit and support potential foster/adoptive/guardianship families from the Black community as they enter the foster care system. The acronym “RESPOND” represents its core components: Recruitment, Education, and Support for Potential foster parents, while developing an Ongoing network Dedicated to the success of children in foster care.