About FCAS, Inc.

We were founded in 1984 out of a growing need in our area. As more and more children came into the foster care system, more families who were willing to foster were needed. A number of case workers at what was then the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services decided that some type of community based organization was needed to help with recruitment and to provide additional support for foster care providers. Bette McLean, Nancy Brown, and Lynn Cooper, along with Michael Boland and Mary Lynn Smith, set out to make this happen and were the first officers and board members, respectively, thus becoming the first organization in our area providing community-based support for foster children and foster care providers.

As a result of their efforts, the length of time a family stays a foster care provider was increased. Today we have some families that have been providing care for twenty years or more. Over the years, Foster Care Advisory Services has provided scholarships for summer camps, purchased clothing, books, and other school necessities, played Santa at Christmas, and even hosted a yearly banquet for the foster care providers. We have helped out the high school graduates each year and through the James P. Benson “Gift of Hope” A member of the graduating class is selected to receive money to help them transition from Foster Care to living on their own.

All of this is brought about with an entirely volunteer base. For over twenty years, Foster Care Advisory Services has operated with no paid employees, allowing every dollar taken in to help provide the strong support that foster children and their care givers need and deserve. Over the years, many children have passed through the foster care system, and we sincerely believe that our efforts on their behalf have made a difference in their lives.