iFoster is a national nonprofit organization providing foster youth with the resources they need to become successful adults. iFoster has built the largest national online community specifically for foster care, with curated resources and programs to address the greatest needs of our community.
Serita and Reid Cox, a married couple, founded the organization in 2010. This cause is especially close to Serita’s heart because she is a former foster youth.
Both Serita and Reid have overcome adversity in their lives and built successful careers in the business world before following their passion to help every foster youth achieve their potential.
iFoster currently has over 46,000 members in all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico, creating pathways to support almost all young people in foster care. An estimated 300 new members join iFoster each month.
Our Mission
Our mission is to ensure that each child growing up outside of their biological home has the resources and opportunities they need to become a successful, independent adult.
There are over 437,000 children in foster care in the United States today — and the government invests less than half of what an “average family” invests to raise a child. iFoster helps address this investment gap.
20,000 young people age-out of the foster care system each year without a supportive family to help them after care. Within four years of aging out of the foster care system — which can occur anywhere between 18 to their 21st birthday — 50% will be unemployed, 51% will experience homelessness, and 70% will be on government assistance.
iFoster provides the resources and opportunities the foster care community needs to help each young person reach their potential and become successful, independent adults.
Our Programs
We partner with thousands of agencies and hundreds of companies to provide the products, services, and opportunities that our foster youth need in order to successfully transition to adulthood.
iFoster Resource Portal
iFoster has over 500 resources (from free tutoring, eye exams and glasses, to career exploration and discounts on thousands of products), that are identified by the community as the highest needs.
An evaluation for the Federal Administration for Children and Families found that using the iFoster resource portal measurably reduced family needs, improved caregiver well-being, improved child well-being, and lead to greater placement stability.
iFoster Jobs Program
The iFoster Jobs Program is a trauma and evidence informed training program that provides foster youth with the job skills they need to succeed in the workforce.
iFoster has over 25 major corporate employer partners who offer interviews to each of the youths who graduate from training. Over 450 foster youth have earned living wage jobs in the 3 years the program has been operating and expanding.
The iFoster Jobs Program has been selected by the Federal Administration for Children and Families to undergo a formative evaluation as a promising practice in youth employment.
TAY AmeriCorps
TAY AmeriCorps is iFoster’s newest program as of March 2019. As a grantee of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), iFoster is deploying 100 current and former foster youth to serve as AmeriCorps members at 45 host sites, including high schools, colleges and youth workforce centers throughout LA County and the Bay Area
These members will connect current transition-age foster youth (TAY) — their peers — to a myriad number of resources such as tutoring and financial aid services. This program is designed to be a stepping stone for TAY to gain the skill sets they need to find permanent employment — specifically in the public sector — when the time comes.
Our Members
iFoster is free to anyone who is involved in, or supports, foster care. iFoster members can be caregivers, transition age foster youth, former foster youth, or any organization that supports those in foster care.
If you are one of the above, we would love for you to join our community here.
The Future of iFoster
Through partnerships with hundreds of companies, government agencies, other nonprofits, and individuals who care about the well-being of our foster youth, iFoster will continue to make a vital difference in the lives of foster kids.
With your help, we look forward to producing more innovative, groundbreaking programs in the coming years that will result in a better quality of life for those in foster care.
#iamifoster