Foster care is never a decision that should be made lightly. There are about 47,885 children who are in the system according to the latest statistics.

No matter the type of family a child lives with or what age a child is, foster care is not ideal. Most children have a very difficult time in foster care. The executive director of the Foster Care Council of Canada commented on this...

You’re always the new kid in school. You’re always adjusting, you’re always losing friends.

Safe Families is a non-profit organization that allows an alternative to foster care. This mainly American organization has a couple of locations in Canada.

Their role is to keep children out of the foster care system. Safe Families takes special care in placing children into loving homes.

One particular family in the GTA has taken in four children with Safe Families. In this particular case, the children's single mother is in the midst of a medical crisis and needs time to be treated. She cannot adequately care for them at the moment. So, the Paatz family has taken them in to love and nurture them.

Each child is individually unique and special. Their lives are greatly valued by both Safe Families and their temporary family.

The Paatz household has literally doubled and the dynamics in the home have definitely been altered since the four children arrived.

It is definitely not an easy task for this family and many others who volunteer with Safe Families, but it is rewarding in it’s own way.

It is an opportunity to have a positive influence on the life of a child who has most likely had quite a negative life experience.