Association with other foster parents makes fostering much easier. Rarely do you find a person who understands why you foster — unless it’s other foster parents.
— Foster Parent
Many foster, adoptive, and kinship families feel most comfortable with families who are similar to their own — families who can provide friendship, support, ideas, and information about caring for their children. Without help, finding other foster/adoptive families to turn to for help can be a daunting and sometimes impossible task.
Utah Foster Care Foundation (UFCF), the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), Utah Foster/Adoptive Family Association (UFAFA), and the larger adoption community work together to provide Cluster support groups to help foster/adoptive families find other families like their own.
A cluster is a support group of approximately 15–50 foster, adoptive, or kinship families who organize to support the caregiving experience. Each Cluster is facilitated by a foster/adoptive parent, who helps to organize the topic, location, and other details each month.
Clusters are not only grouped by geographical area, but also by whether they provide foster, adoptive, kinship, or specialized care. Salt Lake Valley Region also sponsors a cluster devoted to Spanish-speaking families.
Clusters provide foster/adoptive families with an avenue for emotional and social support, opportunities to earn in-service training hours, receive care-giving advice and assistance from other foster/adoptive families, and access additional resources and information.
Foster families are typically able to earn the 12 yearly in-service hours required for re-licensure through their cluster support group.
The regions are listed below with the name and phone number of the cluster group coordinator. Call them to find the cluster group for you!
Salt Lake Valley Region — Salt Lake & Tooele Counties
Tina Porter: 801 994 5205
Northern Region — Box Elder, Cache, Rich, Morgan, Weber, & Davis Counties
Kristie Schaefer: 801 392 1114
Western Region — Summit, Wasatch, Juab, & Utah Counties
Jessica Hannemann: 801 373 3006
Eastern Region — Daggett, Duchesne, Uinta, Carbon, Emery, Grand, & San Juan Counties
Faith Spencer: 435 724-0959 (Daggett, Uintah, & Duchesne Counties)
Kobi Marchello: 435-636-0210 (Carbon & Emery Counties)
Geri Swift: 435 259 3345 (Grand & San Juan Counties)
Southwest Region — Sanpete, Sevier, Beaver, Piute, Wayne, Iron, Garfield, Washington, & Kane Counties
Marissa Douglas: 435 896 1232 (Sanpete & Sevier Counties)
Diane Callister: 435 656 8065 (Beaver, Piute, Wayne, Iron, Garfield, Washington, & Kane Counties)
Toll-free: 1 877 505 KIDS
moreinfo@utahfostercare.org