Cathy Richman

Angels in Adoption 2005 - California

Selected by Representative Darrell Issa

Cathy founded ANGELS Foster Family agency in 1998 in response to the foster care crisis she witnessed during her five years as a volunteer in the San Diego County Juvenile Court. Drawing on her experiences as a child advocate and her research in child development, Cathy developed her own vision of a foster care agency staffed by professionals, affiliated wtih M.S.W.-degreed social workers, and dedicated to placing needy babies with only the most carefully screened, loving parents. The foster program now encompasses the adoption of some of ANGELS' children by loving families. ANGELS specializes in placing infants and toddlers with exceptional families. The ANGELS mission is to rescue abused, abandoned, and neglected young children, match them with a select group of foster parents, and ensure the maximum emotional. social, and intellectual development of each child. To fulfill this ambitious program, Cathy has incorporated a parenting program for prospective foster parents that teaches not only practical parenting skills, but also the key principles of development and psychology required to raise a happy, well-adjusted child. During the past 9 months alone, ANGELS has placed 34 babies, 3 of which were adopted. Because of the growing number of children in crisis, Cathy is expanding the ANGELS program to include not just San Diego County, but Riverside County, which has no centralized temporary shelter. ANGELS will soon become an integral part of the solution to care for abused, abandoned, and neglected children. I am proud to say that ANGELS will be opening their second facility in California's 49th District. None of this would be possible without the dedication, perseverance, inspiration, and the love of a very special individual.