The Faith Initiative Office:   
Recruiting and raising awareness of the needs for foster and adoptive families

VISION

 

Healthy Communities Minority Adoption Program

 

 

African-American children are significantly over-represented in Alameda County’s child welfare system. Only fifteen percent of children between the ages of 0 and 17 living in Alameda County are African American, however…

■ African-American children comprise 40% of all referrals to Child Protective Services (CPS) and 40% of the children who enter foster care; this is more than double their percentage among the county’s children, ages 0 to 17.


■ 71% of all foster children still in care after three years are African-American Several Communities are also over-represented in Alameda County’s child welfare system.


■ 24% of all children who are removed from their homes and placed in foster care come from East Oakland neighborhoods.

■ 18% of all children who are removed from their homes and placed in foster care come from South Hayward/Union City neighborhoods.

■ 12% of all children removed from their homes and placed in foster care come from West Oakland neighborhoods.

■ Over half of all children in foster care (54%) come from East Oakland, South Hayward, & West Oakland combined.

 

 

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No Child Should Be
A Statistic...


Grounded in the belief that every child needs a family, the Alameda County Faith Initiative Office, managed by Healthy Communities, works with the Faith Advisory Council to fulfill its mission as an essential part of the Social Services Agency's Faith Initiative. The Faith Initiative's goals are:

■ To increase awareness about the needs of children and youth in the child welfare system...

■ To recruit licensed Foster Family Homes for Alameda County children and youth, reflecting the diversity of our children in care and the diversity of those who will share their love...

■ To provide foster parents with the support necessary to become a foster or adoptive family...

■ Increase awareness about the critical need for culturally diverse foster family homes in Alameda County...

■ Enable faith leaders to actively recruit potential foster parents through their community work and congregations...

■ Collaborate with the Alameda County Social Services Agency to surmount obstacles to foster family recruitment,
licensing, and retention...

■ To review foster family related policies, programs, and strategies to achieve these objectives...

OUR VISION

Our vision is to be the best community-serving health and life-enhancing agency in every community we operate in—in the eyes of community members, stakeholders and staff. We expect, demand and apply the very best we have to offer by always keeping our values foremost in mind.

 

 


Our mission is to decrease violence and health inequities in people of color in every community in which we offer services.  We shall accomplish this by collaborating with other community conscious organizations, churches, businesses, and individuals.  We shall engage community and political leadership to foster lasting relationships and activities that build a stronger and safer community.

MISSION