Expanding Our Reach: Supporting Foster Kids Across the U.S.
We help foster children, but how much we can help depends on finding, training, and certifying foster parents. Facing nearly 400,000 children in the United States foster care system, the task can feel overwhelming. To us at FosterVA, helping children in foster care is deeply meaningful.
FosterUSKids is the only national resource for people who want to become a foster parent. People can help children and families in many ways. Perhaps the most needed help is also the most rewarding: providing a safe and nurturing foster home to foster children and teens in need.
FosterUSKids: Bridging Gaps and Building Connections
Partners and parents Richard and Andrea Kingswell founded FosterUSKids. Their mission is to fill the gap between youth in foster care and potential foster parents across the United States.
This resource helps aspiring foster parents connect with each state's foster care and adoption agency representatives. FosterUSKids aims to reach reliable adults who want to adopt a child or provide home care for a foster child, teen, or sibling group.
Child-placing agencies are part of the child welfare system. Social workers and other foster advocates work in the interests of every child in foster care. They also guide potential foster or adoptive parents and their family members through every step of their journey.
A Brief History: The FosterUSKids Story
Our journey began with Extra Special Parents (ESP), founded in 2006, followed by FosterVA in 2018. Both organizations focus on providing information and access for prospective foster parents in Virginia. Our mission centers on supporting foster children and families throughout the Commonwealth and improving the outcomes for foster kids. We serve the interests of the child when they enter foster care til they return home to their birth parents or find long-term care.
Founder Richard Kingswell’s 40+ year history in youthwork began in 1986. It brought him to foster care in 1995 when he worked in a Baltimore runaway shelter. His service for kids has spanned recreation, diagnostics, group homes, corrections, and foster care, including the establishment of ESP.
Tapping Andrea's strategic planning experience, the two understood a simple fact. Their ability to help foster children depended on their ability to create more foster and adoptive families. Richard and Andrea shifted their focus from networking for foster parents to helping aspiring foster parents find them.
Inspired partly by the film “Instant Family,” the partners put their vision into action. Richard and Andrea used their knowledge of foster care and digital marketing to launch FosterVA. This online platform brought the mission to life, connecting prospective foster and adoptive parents with foster children in Virginia.
FosterVA's success in Virginia led to the creation of a national resource for aspiring foster and adoptive parents. This resource is FosterUSKids. This resource helps reliable, nurturing adults become foster parents, regardless of their location within the United States.
The Legacy of ESP: From State Focus to National Vision
Foster children in every state desperately need compassion and family support. ESP asks Virginia residents to open their hearts and homes and provide temporary care for foster children. We work with the Department of Social Services as part of a foster childcare team.
From orientation and training to background checks and the Home Study process, FosterVA is a guide. Our team helps would-be parents navigate the process and become approved and licensed foster or adoptive parents.
ESP laid the groundwork for FosterVA. This platform amplified ESP’s mission, connecting new or aspiring foster parents with Virginia’s children in need. The success of FosterVA inspired Richard and Andrea to broaden their efforts nationally with FosterUSKids.
FosterUSKids' goal is to become a nationwide, comprehensive resource for all who seek to support foster children and families.
Child-placing agencies in every state partner with their state's child welfare agencies. The vision was to vet and validate foster care and adoption agencies in every state. Each would maintain a profile on the site, easily reachable to guide people considering becoming foster parents.
In addition, FosterUSKids would provide detailed state-by-state information and eligibility requirementsfor becoming a foster parent. Extensive blog content would educate, inform, inspire, and support foster and adoptive families on this honorable path. Foster children across the country would be the beneficiaries of guidance, support, and love. Thousands more people would be able to fulfill their dream of becoming foster or adoptive parents.
FosterUSKids became a reality in December 2023.