Clothing drive to benefit Arizona's Children Association

Arizona's Children Association is hoping to brighten the lives of Yuma-area foster children with a drive for new clothes and shoes.

Yuma and La Paz counties have approximately 150 children in foster care at any one time. The drive is a way to provide children in the foster care system with high-quality clothing to go back to school.

Cori Rico, program supervisor at the association, said seemingly small things like this make a big difference to a foster child.

“These kiddos are used to getting hand-me-downs all their life; a new piece of clothing from PacSun or Dillard's goes a long way.”

Though foster parents do get state funding to pay for a foster child's essentials, Rico said the payments don't cover everything. Many foster children are in the care of relatives or other unlicensed foster care givers, who receive very little — between $20 and $80 a month, depending on age — for their services. In some cases, not even this stipend is provided.

Even for a licensed foster home, Rico said the $600-$700 a month a foster child is given covers basic needs, but doesn't provide for the quality clothing which most high-school-aged foster children strongly desire.

Finally, Rico said Arizona's Children Association also provides aid for families who are struggling to stay in one piece. Clothing donations to these families give them one less thing to worry about, and ultimately reduce the burden on the foster care system.

“Unification with the child's biological family is always the first goal,” said Rico.

An important part of the association's job is to educate families on how they can adequately provide for their children, as well as to help biological parents whose children are currently in foster care to get back to the position where they can care for their child.

Nonetheless, Rico said there is a terrible shortage of foster parents in Yuma.

“Many of our kiddos get sent to Phoenix because there simply aren't enough homes here.”

This is not good for the child, explains Rico, both because is uproots him or her and makes it more difficult for the child to be reunited with his or her parents. For this reason, she says that if even a few people sign up to become foster parents at a meeting in August, it will be a great step forward. The meeting will provide all the information on becoming a foster parent, as well as answering questions about the experience of being one.

The drive and meeting take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 13 at the Yuma County Main Library, 2951 S. 21st Drive. Appetizers will be served.