Collective Lens: Photography for Social Change

This photo was captured on Mother's Day. The foster parent requested that I take photos of her with the child she had taken care of for almost two years, but who within weeks was to be returned to her birth mother. It was heartbreaking to hear their story, but I felt honored to have met such a loving and selfless individual.

Facts & insight into the subject of foster care:

In the United States 463,000 live in foster care. Children enter foster care for a number of reasons.

18.8% Physical Abuse
7.9% Emotional abuse
6.2% Sexual Abuse
3.2% Caretaker Inability

When a child can't be placed with a blood relative they may be placed in a group home or with a foster parent. Foster parents step in to provide a child care on a daily basis. They make sure all of their needs are met and provide them with a sense of stability.

In order to become a foster parent an individual will undergo a background check, home visits and may even have to pass written assessment tests.

When a child is removed from their home and placed with a foster parent the goal is to work with the child's case manager and the court system to return the child to their family or place in a permanent home.

Sources:
AFCARS Report 2009
http://dcfs.co.la.ca.us
http://www.childrenunitingnations.org/who-we-are/foster-care-statistics/