Orange County honors foster families, highlights kinship placement success

The Orange County Board of Supervisors opened its June 4 meeting by recognizing foster families and declaring May as Foster Care Month. Chair Wagner invited Children and Family Services staff and longtime foster parents Mark and Stephanie Parsons to the dais to accept the proclamation.

County deputy director Scott Burdick said the Social Services Agency prioritizes keeping children with kin and family when safe and appropriate, and cited a 47 percent kinship‑placement rate as one of the county’s strongest outcomes. "At a 47 percent rate of successful kinship placements, we have one of the highest kinship placement rates," Burdick said, urging residents to visit oc4kids.com for information about becoming resource families.

In brief remarks, the Parsons described more than a decade of service as foster parents, saying they had fostered nine children over 13 years and stressing kinship and respite care as alternatives to group placements. "If you have it on your heart, even to consider bringing a child in your home... it could be a kinship, it could be a respite," Mark Parsons said.

The proclamation and remarks framed the county’s approach around permanency and minimizing congregate care: supervisors noted the number of young people aging out of care and the risks they face without strong supports. Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said his district alone had roughly 823 dependents in out‑of‑home care and stressed the board’s responsibility to support transitions into stable adulthood.

No formal action beyond the proclamation was required; the presentations served as both recognition and public outreach to recruit and support resource families.