What is Foster Care?
Foster care is a temporary safety net for children who are
unable to live safely with their birth families. Children enter
foster care because they have been abused or neglected or have experienced
other family problems such as substance abuse, mental illness or a parent’s
incarceration. A primary goal of foster care is to help
children return to their families.
Who are the Children?
Lilliput places children of all ages. The children are
considered to have special needs based on at least one of the
following:
- Over the age of three
- Minority ethnicity
- Part of a sibling group
- Physical or emotional challenges
- Adverse parental background
 What
is the Need?
There are more than 60,000 children in foster care in
California. Last year, more than 4,600 left the foster care system
at the age of 18 without the support of a parent. The longer that a
child stays in foster care, the more likely he or she will “age out” of
foster care. Not surprisingly, the majority of former foster youth
fail to achieve self-sufficiency.
Studies of California’s emancipated foster youth found that:
- 65% exit foster care without a place to live.
- Less than 3% go to college.
- 51% are unemployed.
- Females are 4 times more likely to receive
public assistance than the general population.
In any given year, foster children comprise less than 0.3% of the
state’s population, and yet 40% of persons living in homeless shelters are
former foster children. A similarly disproportionate percentage of
the nation’s prison population is comprised of former
foster youth. There is a dire need
for children to find safety, nurturing and permanency when they enter foster
care to help them forge a brighter future.
“Resource families” (also referred to as foster families) are
needed to:
- Provide a safe and stable home life for children;
- Commit to caring for a child or sibling group for as long as the
child is in care, possibly leading to adoption;
- Support a child’s emotional and physical healing from child abuse
and neglect;
- Support a child’s relationship with his or her birth parents,
grandparents, siblings and/or other relatives
Steps to Becoming a Foster Parent at Lilliput:
There is an urgent need for resource families who are
committed to parenting a child for as long as they need them; whether to
assist in birth family reunification or an openness to adoption should the
child(ren) not be able to reunify. Contact your
local Lilliput office to get more information and to begin the process.
- If you are interested in helping a foster child, call us at
(800) 325-5359 or the Lilliput office closest
to you. Or you can email
Info@Lilliput.org.
- You will be invited to a local orientation meeting.
What is Orientation?
Orientation is a casual, informational meeting.
Here you will learn about Lilliput, our values and the foster and
adoption process. You will have a chance to ask questions. Orientations
are held regularly at each of our office locations.
- If you decide to pursue foster or adoptive parenting with Lilliput,
a social worker will walk you through the process. See the
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) for specific
details about foster parenting with Lilliput.
Where We Serve
Lilliput certifies foster families in the following counties: Alameda,
Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra
Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Nevada, Napa, Placer, Sacramento, San Francisco, San
Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Stanislaus,
Sutter, Tehama, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba.
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