Our County, Our Kids

Have you ever considered becoming a foster parent? Our new "Our County, Our Kids" program can help inspire and inform you! For more information, visit www.OurCountyOurKids.org. You may also want to check out the article about it in the Lompoc Record.

A November to remember youth who need families

Over 100,000 children and youth nationwide are in foster care and waiting to be adopted into permanent families, including over 2000 in California and over 100 in Santa Barbara County. November is National Adoption Month, and we are observing the occasion with two public events. 

On November 3 in Santa Barbara, the County Board of Supervisors will pass a resolution highlighting the need for families to adopt children from foster care, and honoring families that do so—and the many individuals and organizations that support them along the way. A local family which has adopted one child from foster care, and is in the process of adopting another, will address the Board. 

On November 18, Adoption Day will take place at Santa Maria Juvenile Court. The Court will finalize the adoption of at least seven local foster children into stable, permanent, loving homes, just in time for Thanksgiving. Festivities will follow, with food, children’s activities, gifts, and free portraits for the new forever families. (The actual adoption proceedings are closed events.) Communities across the United States hold similar Adoption Day events in November to help create and celebrate new families for foster children. (National Adoption Day is officially the Saturday before Thanksgiving, but ours is one of the many communities that schedule the event on a weekday instead.)

“Children enter foster care through no fault of their own, as a result of abuse, neglect, or abandonment,” explained Devin Drake, the deputy director overseeing Child Welfare Services (CWS) for the Santa Barbara County Department of Social Services (DSS). CWS works with the family and the courts to establish a safe environment in the home of origin, but if this proves impossible, then a new permanent home must be sought. “Adoption is the highest level of permanence,” he said, “offering love, nurturing and guidance through childhood and beyond.” 

For more information on Child Welfare Services, foster care or adoption, please visit www.AdoptSBC.com, or call the Department of Social Services at 1-866-899-2649.

Board Recognizes National Foster Care Month

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has recognized May as National Foster Care Month. In a resolution passed unanimously at their May 6 meeting, the Board celebrated foster parents for giving their time, love, and commitment to children in foster care and their families.

2014 Youth Impact Award winners honored

LEGIT representatives at the awards ceremony 

Winners have been chosen for the 2014 Youth Impact Awards!

Winners this year included Ella Brewer of San Marcos High School, Fatima Cacho of Cabrillo High School, and the LEGIT Club of Righetti High School. Honorable mentions included Maria Frias of San Marcos High School, Diego Hernandez of Santa Maria High School, and Marcy Montano of Grizzly Academy.

Backpacks for Foster Children 2012 Succeeds



The Backpacks for Foster Children project was back this year and very successful, providing back-to-school backpacks and supplies for about 200 children and youth served by the county’s foster care system. 

“After 18” Helps Foster Youth Transition to Adulthood

Until recently, foster youth “aged out” of foster care at age 18 -- one day they were 17, and the next day they were on their own. With few resources at their disposal, many struggled to make it. For too many, poverty or jail loomed. In 2009, a quarter of California’s “aged-out” foster youth experienced homelessness.

That grim outlook is brightening. 

Adoption Day 2012

November is National Adoption Month. In celebration, Child Welfare Services will be hosting its annual Adoption Day at the Santa Maria Juvenile Court on Wednesday November 28, where 26 children will be adopted by 12 families. The festivities will include food, activities for the children, gifts, complimentary family portraits for the new forever families, and of course smiles, laughs and tears of joy. These twelve relative and non-relative care providers will agree to provide the children the safe, stable, loving and permanent homes they so need and deserve.

Gifts, Party Brighten Holiday for Foster Children

The holidays can be a difficult time for foster children who are living away from their birth families. Our annual gift drive and holiday party made the holidays a little brighter for those children.

19 Children Adopted in One Day

Stuffed animals, tears of joy, and snapshot-taking aunties abounded at a festive gathering at the Santa Maria juvenile courthouse November 30, as 19 children exited foster care and were welcomed to the hope, love and care of adoptive homes. The event was part of National Adoption Month, a nationwide event that encourages people to become adoptive parents. 

Packed Up, Ready to Learn

WCBN members surround DSS Deputy Director Delfino Neira with good vibes...and backpacks.

Imagine being a kid on your first day back at school, and not having a backpack or school supplies…maybe because you don’t have parents looking out for you. Thanks in part to a local nonprofit’s donation of 48 spiffy new backpacks and school supplies, youth in our foster care system didn’t find themselves short of those school tools when the school year began.