{"id":194529,"date":"2026-03-04T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/?p=194529"},"modified":"2026-03-06T14:03:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T21:03:58","slug":"utah-foster-care-creating-community-and-caring-for-utahs-most-vulnerable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/community\/utah-foster-care-creating-community-and-caring-for-utahs-most-vulnerable\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Foster Care: Creating Community and Caring for Utah\u2019s Most Vulnerable"},"content":{"rendered":"

What started as a creative solution to the challenges within Utah\u2019s child welfare system has blossomed into an organization that cultivates community and supports some of Utah\u2019s most vulnerable residents. Utah Foster Care<\/a> is a local non-profit created by the state\u2019s Legislature and former Gov. Mike Leavitt<\/strong><\/a> in 1999. It was born out of the determination to protect and advocate for youth in foster care. Fast forward 27 years, and the organization has recruited and trained more than 16,650 foster families, working with 417 new foster families in 2025 alone, according to Utah Foster Care\u2019s 2025 Annual Report.<\/p>\n

\"Utah
Despite the complexities, the organization\u2019s staff is committed to their work. Photo: John Taylor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Utah Foster Care CEO Nikki MacKay<\/strong><\/a> said they work with foster families to ensure the foster care system can be a \u201csafe place to land\u201d for children. \u201cThat\u2019s why we do this work,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s about creating opportunities for people to get involved as foster parents, volunteers, mentors or community partners and to become a safe, steady presence in the lives of kids who need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has been involved with the organization since its inception, describing the work as \u201cemotionally challenging\u201d and complex. \u201cIt feels sacred and deeply meaningful,\u201d MacKay says. \u201cIt\u2019s all of those things woven together.\u201d Despite the complexities, the organization\u2019s staff is committed to their work. \u201cWe\u2019re fortunate to have an incredible staff who truly understand the mission and are deeply passionate about what we\u2019re trying to accomplish,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Many staff members have an intimate understanding of foster care, as 40% of them are foster parents, MacKay says. Getting more people interested in becoming foster parents is an important part of the organization\u2019s mission. \u201cWe have teams in all of our offices who are always happy to hop on a phone call, talk with people and answer any questions they have about foster care,\u201d MacKay says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s recruiting families that match the needs of the kids, and when we can\u2019t do that, educating families.\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

She emphasized that people from all walks of life can become foster parents. \u201cOne common misconception is that single people can\u2019t be foster parents, and that\u2019s simply not true,\u201d she says. Both heterosexual and LGBTQ+ single people and legally married couples may be foster parents. Additionally, a foster parent may be a homeowner or a renter. It all starts with an initial consultation held at the prospective foster parent\u2019s home or at Utah Foster Care\u2019s office. From there, prospective foster parents do several hours of training, a background check and a home study. However, a person must be licensed through the State of Utah to become a foster parent.<\/p>\n

\"A
Utah Foster Care heavily advocates for keeping children connected to their culture. Photo: John Taylor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Utah Foster Care heavily advocates for keeping children connected to their culture. In MacKay\u2019s words, that means, when possible, \u201cfinding families that represent\u201d the kids they serve. \u201cSometimes that\u2019s about speaking the same language. Sometimes it\u2019s about sharing those cultural traditions,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s recruiting families that match the needs of the kids, and when we can\u2019t do that, educating families.\u201d<\/p>\n

A resource Utah Foster Care utilizes to do this is \u201ccluster\u201d or support groups. These groups are built to offer community. Sometimes they\u2019re organized geographically, and other times based on cultural needs. There are cluster groups for Native American families, for Spanish-speaking families and for families of LGBTQ+ youth.<\/p>\n

Utah Foster Care also hosts events for families and youth in foster care throughout the year. \u201cBOSS Bus\u201d sticks out to MacKay. \u201cBOSS\u201d stands for belonging, opportunity, support and success. The event focuses on educating teens in foster care about the workplace and involves several organizations. \u201cEvery company opens its doors to the kids and really rolls out the red carpet,\u201d she says. \u201cThey make them feel important. It\u2019s wonderful to see the kids get excited and start to believe they can be anything they want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utah Foster Care encourages anyone interested to learn more about foster care and what it takes to get involved to visit utahfostercare.org<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Read about local superheroes helping Utah’s vulnerable populations:
\nKimball Art Center’s Gaze Into These Eyes Champions Justice-Impacted Artists<\/a>
\nRasa Legal: Clearing Records, Changing Lives<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Utah Foster Care is a local non-profit created by Mike Leavitt in 1999. It was born out of the determination to protect and advocate for youth in foster care. … read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":194839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[],"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[340],"tags":[31668,31667,31666,31665],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194529"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}