Montana Kids in Foster Care Outnumber Available Families 2 to 1

I was young when a doctor first told me I would never be able to have children. I remember exactly where I was sitting when I heard it, and I remember how much it crushed me. For a long time I carried that news around like something broken I couldn't put back together. Eventually I made peace with it, or at least I thought I had, because coming to terms with a future you didn't choose is its own kind of work.

Then, at 34, my husband and I found out we were going to be parents. I still don't have the right words for what that moment felt like after years of believing it would never happen. I will be forever grateful for the gift of my child, and I don't think that gratitude ever fully wears off. Some days I still catch myself a little stunned by it.

Montana Foster to Adopt Process Left Us With More Questions Than Answers

Before that surprise, my husband and I talked seriously about becoming foster parents with the intention to adopt. We didn't know where to start. We didn't know who to call or what the process even looked like. That uncertainty is part of why I wanted to write this, because if that was us back then, I know it's someone else right now.

There's a Montana nonprofit called Child Bridge built specifically for families in that spot. Their whole purpose is connecting kids who've been through abuse or neglect with families who can care for them, and Montana has one of the highest rates of kids in foster care per capita in the entire country. Roughly 2,500 children are currently in Montana's foster care system, but the number of licensed families available to care for them is only about half that.

Montana Foster Parent Training Is Free for Families Who Need It

What stood out to me most is how much of Child Bridge's work is about not leaving families to figure it out alone. They offer Info Meetings for anyone just starting to consider fostering, a virtual first step with no commitment attached. From there, families can go through a course called Foundations in Foster Care to learn the basics before they're ever licensed. For families already fostering, there are monthly gatherings called Foster Connects, smaller weekly Journey Groups, and one-on-one Parent Coaching for families working through specific challenges. All of it is free to the families who use it, funded by donors across the state.

Child Bridge has also recently launched a Native Family Services program, led by Sierra Singer, a Crow tribal member working to recruit Native foster families, support kinship caregivers, and help non-Native families keep Native kids connected to their culture and community while they're in care.

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None of this makes the decision to foster or adopt simple. But not knowing where to turn shouldn't be the reason a family doesn't try. Whether a child needs a home for a few weeks or for good, there are kids in Montana right now who just need a stable place to land, and there's a clear place to start.