“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.” (Psalm 127:3-5)
Being placed in foster care can be a very emotionally painful experience for a child. Imagine being moved from home to home, leaving behind your neighborhood, your community, your school, your friends, and most of your belongings. Imagine having every interaction with your family members, watched and evaluated – the uncertainty, the fear, the sadness, the guilt and sometimes even anger. This is what it feels like for youth in foster care.
Foster care is provided for youth whose families are temporarily unable to care for them. To make this change easier, we need compassionate and patient people like you to assume the role as parent, taking on the day-to-day care and support for the youth. We specialize in DYRS foster care which means youth come to us from the DC Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (juvenile detention). 
Peers often tease youth about being in foster care, reinforcing perceptions that they are somehow different or unworthy. Youth in foster care have behavioral, emotional, and developmental problems than do other youth. Yet, most youth in foster care adjust well as long as the placement is stable and the foster family is skilled in nurturing the youth’s emotional needs. Most youth in foster care benefit from counseling. Just knowing that they have access to people who truly care about them and show genuine interest in their lives is enough to turn these kids’ lives around. Caring for a youth with a tough back story can be a truly rewarding experience!