There are 250 youth in foster care in San Luis Obispo County; half need non-relative care.
Those numbers are according to San Luis Obispo County Child Welfare Services.
There are currently 64 unmatched resource families active within the county, and as National Foster Care Awareness Month comes to a close, county representatives urge to keep the message active year-round.
The county's child welfare services are looking to fill that gap by setting a goal of creating 75 resource-family homes by the end of 2025, launching the 75/25 initiative. A resource family is a home that provides out-of-home care for children in foster homes.
The initiative aims to provide 25 homes for teens, 25 homes for school-aged youth, and 15 homes for youth 5 and under. Seven emergency foster homes and three shelter homes are needed to complete the initiative.
“It was so important to create this initiative to have the buy-in of elected officials and to have the buy-in of community members, schools, religious organizations, so that we can all rally together to find homes for these youth," creator of 75/25 initiative Felipe Gonzalez said.
“This time we decided let's develop a strategy that allows the community to really track what we're doing, get buy-in on how many homes we need, and also kind of see the progress of the initiative," program manager Roxi Selck said.
The primary goal of the initiative is reunification between the children and their biological families. The job of a resource parent is to provide a safe environment for the child until they return home. In some cases, adoption is on the table if there is no reunification.
“One thing that really stood out to both [my husband and I] is the importance of there's plenty of children and families right here in our own community that need assistance, that these children need a safe, loving home," former resource parent Matt Pennon said.
Now, Pennon and his husband are parents to three youths who were in the child welfare system.
“You provide them a safe, loving home," Pennon added. "You provide them guidance, support, and sometimes on the safe and possible, you get to be involved in their family's progress towards reunification.”
The 75/25 initiative hopes to simultaneously reduce pressure on existing resource families while amending the lack of awareness in the community.
All information sessions are virtual for those who would like more information to become resource parents.
You can also contact SLO Foster Care at (805) 781-1705 or visit their website.
