May is Foster Care Awareness Month, an opportunity to elevate the voices, strengths, and needs of children in foster care. As such, I am highlighting 5 ways you can positively impact the life of a foster child. Each has different levels of engagement, so if there is one that speaks to you, information is provided to learn more.

LEARN MORE: Foster Care Awareness Month: A unified call to action to support nonprofits through tax credit

LOCAL NEWS: 100 best places to work and live in Arizona for 2025

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: Want more news like this? Get our free newsletter here

  1. Become a licensed foster parent. At minimum, this requires completing Foster Parent College, selecting a licensing agency, and completing requirements for licensure, including home inspection by the Office of Licensing and Regulation. You will select the age range to become licensed for and when a child within your age range becomes available for placement, you will have the opportunity to be a foster home for them. The outcomes for a child after placement with you are variable. Some children may return to their biological family, and some may be eligible to be adopted due to terminated parental rights. You have a voice in who is placed in your home.
  2. Become a licensed respite provider – with the same requirements as a licensed foster parent, your license is for respite and allows the flexibility of providing care for foster children for a short period of time in cases of a caregiver needing respite. If you think you might be ready to foster or want to learn more, find out more here.
  3. Volunteer – volunteer for an organization that supports children in foster care for a variety of opportunities and/or as a C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocate). A C.A.S.A. volunteer is trained, court appointed, matched with a child/siblings to advocate for their safety and well-being, and serves as a steady support amidst change. To find out more https://azcasavolunteer.org
  4. Donate – you can make a donation to an organization that serves youth in foster care, either as a monetary donation and/or receive an annual tax credit for AZ state taxes. In 2025, the tax credit is $1234 for married couples filing jointly and $618 for people filing as an individual. Some organizations such as Thrive AZ accept furniture donations, helping furnish the home of young adults aging out of foster care. All of these donations go a long way to enable the provision of services that positively impact outcomes. Donations to Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation go toward funding our three programs:  Childhood Activities, which provides funding for children in foster care to engage in activities that enrich their childhoods, Keys to Success, a workforce development program for 16-26 year olds aging out of foster care, and Post-Secondary programs, which offers scholarships and emergency funding for post-secondary students who aged out of foster care.  To find out more about AFFCF’s programs to uplift youth in foster care and/or donate to support our programs and outcomes, please visit https://www.affcf.org
  5. Be trauma informed. Some data reflects that 20% of incarcerated individuals and 50% of unsheltered people have lived experience in foster care. Being trauma informed can help broaden the lens in approaching human experience, knowing what happened to a person and their lived experience, particularly during child development, shapes and impacts their life trajectory. Being kind, compassionate and understanding that people generally are doing the best they can within their circumstances; you may be the person that helps change their story. The Arizona Trauma Institute has many resources to explore trauma informed understanding.

If any of these options speak to you, please learn more through the resources provided. In addition to positively impacting the life of a foster child(ren), you just might find your life positively impacted too.

Author: Luis De La Cruz is CEO and president of Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation.