Three Starlings Foundation

The Mission of the Three Starlings Foundation is to provide support to foster children, resource (foster) parents, and the biological parents of children in the child welfare system.

Three Starlings was founded by an Orange County emergency foster parent, troubled by the deprivations and traumatic circumstances that she was seeing for children entering foster care. They arrive from dire situations, including poverty, family violence, and substance abuse, and often need specialized attention and additional resources. At Three Starlings Foundation, we have worked to mobilize community partners and donors to assist us in supporting these children and their caregivers, to help us provide what they need to thrive. We have a particular focus in supporting children and caregivers and in providing resources in the earliest days of foster placements—before stipends become available—a time when these children can be especially vulnerable.

Our first project was related to care of newborns. We found out that smart bassinets were being used in hospital NICUs, and studies have shown that they are beneficial for infants exposed to drugs in utero. It is estimated that up to 80% of infants in foster care have been exposed to substances. We were confident that these bassinets would benefit our newborns, who are often still going through withdrawals when they enter care, but the challenge is that the cost of the bassinets is prohibitive for the typical foster household. With the help of community partners, we were able to procure the bassinets for all of the emergency foster households in our County, and they have been a tremendous tool to assist us in providing the highest quality care possible for these infants. To date, we have been able to assist over 100 babies and the benefit is ongoing. We have now shifted focus to offering help to children and caregivers during foster care transitions, times at which children can be at risk of not having their basic needs met. Since the beginning of the year, we have assisted over 40 children and several foster households with basic care supplies, clothing, and groceries for food-insecure households.

Our needs are for:
1-Diapers, primarily in sizes N(ewborn), 1 and 2. One hundred boxes or $5000.00 toward purchases.
2-Newborn clothing. Most infants arrive to foster care with no clothing and need a functional wardrobe including onesies, sleepers, socks, and mitts. We can use new, donated onesies and sleepers (100 units) primarily in sizes 3 through 9 months or $20,000 toward purchases.
3-Baby skin care products for eczema and diaper rashes, which can be severe in drug-exposed newborns. One hundred units of each or $1000.00 toward purchases.
4-Basic needs assist for older children and households. This need varies by household and involves providing gift cards toward purchase of clothing or food from grocery stores. With an allocation of up to $500.00 per child our request is donations of $26,000 that can be put toward these purchases.
5-Donations toward baby care items: Children enter foster care at varying ages and may arrive with special care needs (for instance needing monitors, carriers, g-tube supplies, or special swaddles). We try to have funds available ($5000.00) that can be allocated toward these care items.

All of Orange County, California