Fostering Hope Florida operates community-supported foster homes and offers support to foster families in central Florida.

2. There are reports of 10,000 abused and/or neglected children in Pinellas County every year. Did You Know? A statewide count of children in foster care in 2004 reported 48,282 children in foster care. National average = 10 in 1,000 children Florida = 12 in 1,000 children in care 4,100 children over the age of eight are available for adoption.

3. In Circuit 6 (Pinellas and Pasco counties) there are more than 2,000 children in foster care. Circuit 6 In June 2007, it was reported that there were 1,755 children in the Pinellas foster care system with only 461 beds available in licensed foster homes. That is only 26 percent of the beds needed!

5. Nationwide, more than 700,000 children pass through foster care at some point in any given year. We must remember that children entering foster care already have lives full of trauma – they don’t need to receive it while in foster care, too.

6. Children in foster care have disproportionately high rates of physical, developmental and mental health problems and often have many unmet medical and mental health care needs. -American Academy of Pediatrics

7. Due to foster home shortages, children often end up living in a series of foster homes, or group homes, before they “age out” of the foster care system. Many go to a different home each night, carrying their belongings in a grocery bag. Siblings are often separated from one another indefinitely. The foster home shortage plays a large role in this unfortunate fact.

10. We want to break the cycle! These unsettling facts and figures are the reason we believe that our Hope House is a solution to fixing the broken foster care system. With love and stability, foster children can receive the same care that every child needs and deserves to grow to become productive healthy adults.

11. Fostering Hope Florida A sensible approach to foster care!