Foster Homes of Healing
I have had the honor of facilitating Foster Homes of Healing (FHOH) since 2018. FHOH is a coalition of ten organizations from across Oregon that are dedicated to elevating the quality of foster care in Oregon, and nationally, through legislative action.
Our coalition is committed to providing foster families with the supports they need to ensure all of Oregon’s children have a safe place to call home. You can find a current list of our member organizations here.
We know that change starts at home. We have an average of 6,000 kids in foster care in our state. Those kids need a safe and secure place to stay with a family who is trained, supported, and equipped to provide a true home of healing. We are excited that Oregon now offers KEEP to foster families statewide. We advocate that Oregon continue to fund and expand the KEEP program, helping to make every home a healing home.
Some kids need a team in addition to a supportive family. Foster Homes of Healing endorses Oregon’s investment in therapeutic foster placement expansion through the Treatment Foster Care Oregon program. Like all kids, those in need of extra care and attention thrive in a family environment, and TFCO supports the families of higher need kiddos to become true homes of healing.
In addition to stabilizing foster homes, we must reduce the number of kids being removed into care. This means we need to support families and children prior to an experience with child welfare, throughout involvement, and beyond. Bio and kinship families should have access to the same level of training and support as foster families. Transition age youth, families of color, immigrant and Native American families all deserve to have state-of the art support services so that every family and child in Oregon can thrive.
Foster Homes of Healing supports continuing to expand the Independent Living Program, KEEP expansion, TFCO capacity building, and preventative parent-training and supports. Continuing to decrease the caseloads of casework staff is also crucial so that families get the support and services they need.
We continue to advocate for these and other improvements to the foster care system. Please reach out if you would like to learn more about this work.
