Three Starlings Foundation

Mind the Gap

Children newly entering foster care often arrive from environments of extreme deprivation. Hunger, poverty, neglect, and homelessness are common. Many arrive with only the clothes on their backs. These kiddos have many immediate needs. Babies need diapers. Teens need clean underwear and shoes. Adolescent girls need period products. And these things are just the beginning. How to afford an entire wardrobe for a teen, or a layette for a newborn, in just a matter of days? In the earliest days of a foster placement, this concern places an extra burden on the foster households, which may have had little time to prepare and may not have surplus funds to absorb this sudden expense. Foster parents are given a stipend meant to offset this sort of expenditure. The problem? It does not arrive until at least 45 days after the placement has begun. Our current initiative, titled “Mind the Gap,” is meant to address this lag. Our goal is to provide gift cards (up to $500 in value depending on the specific circumstances or in-kind basic needs product equivalent) that can be made available immediately for these children.