Month in Review: July 2025

Summer is for spending long days at the pool, late nights watching fireworks, getting sunburned on the beach or mosquito-bitten in the woods. Most of us spend at least part of our summer away from home on vacation, but for children experiencing foster care, the reality of leaving home is far too real. For some of these children, they are being removed for the first time from the only family they have ever known. While it may not be a healthy environment, for the child it is still their home, full of everything and everyone who is familiar and known to them. For others, they are facing yet another move from one foster home to another. For these kids, the very idea of "home" may be confusing or nonexistent.

In July, we received referrals for 63 children needing loving and safe homes. We were able to provide 4 amazing homes to 4 precious children - but that sadly still leaves 59 children who we had to turn away.

Let's break down July's stats:

Age:

• 0-2: 6 children
• 3-5: 7 children
• 6-8: 14 children
• 9-11: 7 children
• 12-14: 13 children
• 15-17: 14 children
• 18+: 2 children

Sibling Groups:

• 43 single children
• 5 sibling groups of 2
• 2 sibling groups of 3
• 1 sibling group of 4

If you have been around for a while tracking our statistics, you may recall that we often refer to our 6 contracted counties: Berks, Bucks, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Northampton. Recently, we have added two new counties to this list: Schuylkill and Dauphin. While Schuylkill is partially within our service area and makes for a natural fit, Dauphin (Harrisburg area) was originally only supposed to be a contract for matching adoption. However, the county approached us and asked if they could also send us foster care referrals as well since they consistently find themselves needing to refer statewide in order to find homes for children. We accepted, and have begun to share these referrals with our families as well. While distance is certainly a challenge with these cases, we are hopeful that if the circumstance is right, we can work together with the county to make it work!

The fact that counties are having to widen their net so far shows how desperately we need foster homes. If you would like to consider opening your home to regular foster care, matching adoption, or short-term/emergency foster care, please contact us to learn more!

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