Kings County honors foster parents, proclaims May 2025 as Foster Care Month

The Kings County Board of Supervisors recognized several foster and resource families on May 13 and adopted a proclamation naming May 2025 as Foster Care Month in Kings County.

Jacinta Vargas, program manager for the Human Services Agency, told the board that “May is nationally recognized as foster care month, a time to honor and uplift foster parents who open their hearts and homes to children in need.” Monica Connor, assistant director for the Human Services Agency, introduced the recognition.

Vargas said the county’s goal for children in foster care is reunification with biological families and praised foster parents for supporting continuity and family connections. She told the board that “as of February 2025, approximately 233 children in Kings County were placed in out-of-home care.”

The board paused to recognize individual families and long-serving resource parents: Nilda Rivera (relative resource parent, six years), Nina and Robert Davila (resource parents with North Star Family Center, 13 years), Bobbie Williams (resource parent, 26 years), Elizabeth and Epifano Queer (tribally approved resource family), Yolanda Ariano Perez and Julio Cesar Sandoval (resource parents since February 2019; adopted a child placed with them as a newborn), and Luis Flores (resource parent since February 2018; fostered nine minors and adopted two).

Following the presentations and a photo opportunity with staff, the board adopted the proclamation recognizing May 2025 as Foster Care Month in Kings County.

The Human Services Agency said the recognition is intended to raise visibility for foster parents’ role in providing stable, nurturing environments while children await family reunification. Staff offered to answer board questions after the presentation; none were recorded in the public transcript.

The county will include the proclamation in the official meeting record and post recognition materials to mark the observance.