EVOLVE ADOPTION & FAMILY SERVICES

Foster Care: EVOLVE's Foster Care Programs include traditional foster care, kinship care, respite care and emergency shelter care. We work to recruit and prepare families who are willing and able to provide a nurturing, supportive and affirming environment for children and youth, many who have experienced significant trauma, usually between the ages of 10-18 years old. We conduct home studies to ensure that the families we license are prepared to support the children and youth that will be in their care. This is also done through training and classes that include knowledge with diverse (cultural, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and handicapped individuals) families. The ultimate goal of foster care is high quality temporary care while the children's family get the help that is needed for the children to be back under their care.

UMOJA MN: EVOLVE provides a variety of in-person and virtual engagement, with specialized programing for varying age groups created to connect Black youth with their culture and community, while empowering and educating adoptive, foster, and kinship families. EVOLVE provides two Black Heritage camps in the Twin Cities Metro Area, that empowers and educates Black fostered, kinship and adopted youth and their families with the Black community and culture in Minnesota. In addition to the camps, we have programs that helps these connections throughout the year. Black Teens in Action gives youth the opportunity to connect with other fostered and adopted Black teens and design a service project that they implement with the Black Community in Minnesota. EVOLVE has a Cultural Responsive Parenting Class that is aimed at caregivers who foster or have adopted black children. This helps them gain knowledge about the nuances of Black culture, racism, hypersexuality and hypermasculinity today. There are also other peer and support groups for caregivers and youth throughout the year.