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A new program is providing support to grandparents and other relatives who are fostering

A new program is providing support to grandparents and other relatives who are fostering a family member in Santa Barbara County
Aditya Romansa
/
Unsplash
A new program is providing support to grandparents and other relatives who are fostering a family member in Santa Barbara County

It’s a way to help families caring for foster children in Santa Barbara County.

Often it starts with a sudden phone call, asking a grandparent or relative if they can foster a family member taken into care.

"it's usually an emergency situation, so they have to make a decision fairly quickly whether they are able to care for this child that needs them," explained Holly Carmody, the executive director of Angels Foster Care in Santa Barbara County. The non-profit has launched a new program to support those who don’t have much time to prepare for fostering.

"The family might be a bit overwhelmed, particularly at the time of placement and they could, perhaps, use extra support," she said.

Carmody said supporting the new carers gives the fostered children an opportunity to thrive in their kinship care home at a vulnerable time in their lives.

Caroline joined KCLU in October 2020. She won LA Press Club's Audio Journalist of the Year Award in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Since joining the station she's also won 10 Golden Mike Awards, 6 Los Angeles Press Club Awards, 4 National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards and a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Writing.

She started her broadcasting career in the UK, in both radio and television for BBC News, 95.8 Capital FM and Sky News and was awarded by Prince Philip for her services to radio and journalism in 2007.

She has lived in California for eleven years and is both an American and British citizen - and a very proud mom to her daughter, Elsie.