May is National Foster Care Awareness Month, a time set aside to raise awareness about the needs of children and youth in foster care, as well as to celebrate the contributions of foster parents, child welfare professionals and others who support these young people. Additionally, it’s an opportunity to educate the community about the challenges faced by youth in care and encourage community involvement in supporting them.
Why Is It Important?
In Arizona, there are currently more than 8,500 children and youth in foster care (Arizona DCS, Monthly Operational Outcomes Report, March 2025). While that number has trended downward over the past several years, even one child in care is too many. Reasons for their removal range from neglect to physical, sexual or emotional abuse. No matter how bad the situation, being removed from the only family they’ve ever known is a traumatic experience. They often tend to be behind in their education and struggle with behavioral and emotional issues.
It’s also important to raise awareness because there are too few licensed foster families. Despite the thousands of children and youth in care, there just under 2,000 licensed foster homes available. Arizona has the highest rate of children under the age of 12 placed in group homes (Children’s Action Alliance, 2024 Arizona Kids Count Data Book). Group homes serve a need, but children need a loving family environment to thrive.
Roughly 900 young people age out of foster care in Arizona each year. When they turn 18, they can choose to leave foster care or stay in extended foster care and receive support services until they turn 21 years of age. Too often, they choose to exit foster care altogether. Without any support in place, youth aging out of foster care face many challenges: housing, education, unemployment, incarceration, etc.
How Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation (AFFCF) Helps
Children come into foster care at all stages of life, and AFFCF is here to serve them, no matter where they are, through our three key impact areas.
Childhood Activities
The basic daily foster home rate paid by the state for each child in foster care is $19. AFFCF eases the financial burden on foster families by funding childhood activities and experiences, such as summer camp, school field trips and more, that every child deserves to experience. To be eligible for funding, children and youth must be in foster care or tribal foster care in Arizona.
Keys to Success
Created in 2014, AFFCF’s Keys to Success (KTS) program provides critical housing, career, employment and education services to young people ages 16 to 26. Youth in the program receive a committed team of professional specialists who employ intensive, individualized services tailored to their unique goals. Unlike many other programs, KTS services meet youth where they are, delivered flexibility in their own communities. KTS is currently available in Maricopa, Pima and Yavapai Counties.
Post-Secondary Program
A remarkable 84% of youth in foster care want to attend college, but only 20 percent actually go to college. And just three percent of youth who experienced foster care actually finish college. AFFCF’s Post-Secondary program is committed to increasing their odds for success through scholarships and the Focus Forward Fund, which is designed to help students overcome unexpected life emergencies that can prevent them from completing their college education. In addition, students in the scholarship program receive the moral support they need to ensure their success via regular check-ins, planned activities with other scholars in the program and care packages sent before finals.
How You Can Help
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it’s especially true for children and youth in foster care. Here are a few ways that can lend your support.
Become a Foster Parent
As stated earlier, there is a great need for licensed foster families in Arizona. Becoming a foster parent can be a rewarding experience. You don’t have to do it alone. There are many organizations, including AFFCF, that provide support through your foster care journey. Visit the Arizona Department of Child Safety to learn more about becoming a foster parent.
Donate to AFFCF
Donations to AFFCF ensure that we not only can continue the work we already do, but also expand and better adapt to the needs of youth in care so they can thrive. Because AFFCF is a Qualifying Foster Care Organization (QFCO #10023), your donation to AFFCF can earn you a dollar-for-dollar credit on your Arizona state taxes.
Spread Awareness
You don’t have to donate or become a foster parent to change the life of a young person in foster care. Raising awareness about foster care in Arizona is as easy as giving AFFCF a follow on social media and sharing our content within your circles of influence.
We encourage you to learn more about foster care by visiting our website. Together, we can help Arizona youth in foster care not just survive, but thrive.