Foster Care and Adoption Association of Oklahoma (FCAO) recognizes the value of experienced, hopeful foster families who possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities to teach new foster parents how to navigate the intricacies of the foster care system. FCAO teaches families how to manage the long list of expectations, including appropriately advocating for their foster children, navigating the court process, creating healthy relationships with biological families, and managing services. The Foster Parent Peer Mentoring Program will pair a newly approved (licensed) a DHS foster parent with with a trained FCAO mentor upon first placement. For six to nine months, the mentor will meet in-person monthly with the mentee and communicate via phone and email weekly. Mentors will provide ongoing support, education, and encouragement to mentees.

The Arnall Community Funds are administered through Oklahoma City Community Foundation (OCCF) and provide grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the state of Oklahoma that are working to improve outcomes for individuals, children and families involved with animal welfare and in the child welfare and criminal justice systems. The OCCF staff will manage the grant administration process and all grantmaking decisions will be made by OCCF Trustees. Learn more about the process.