The “Foster Parent of the Year” and “Exemplary Service by a Foster Parent” awards were presented on May 28 at the annual recognition dinner hosted by Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency (HHSA).
Ursula Schneider of Visalia was presented with the “Foster Parent of the Year” award in recognition of her commitment to serving foster children. Schneider has taken in children ages two to 16, often in emergency situations, and has demonstrated “time and time again that she truly loves every child who has come into her life.”
HHSA Foster Care staff members Jennifer Salcido and Yessenia Sanchez presented Carmen Pineda of Tulare with the Exemplary Service by a Foster Parent award in recognition of her commitment to fellow foster parents. Pineda has been a foster parent since 1995 and has helped train new foster parents through the Foster Parent Association.
The awards were announced in May in connection with national Foster Care Month.
Today, there are over 900 children in the Tulare County foster care program. These children have been removed from their homes through no fault of their own because they have been abused, neglected or abandoned, or their parents are ill or incarcerated. The ultimate goal of foster care is to reunite children with their biological parents. More foster parents are needed in every community of Tulare County to allow them to stay in their own school.
For more information, call Yessenia Sanchez at 623-0563 or visit tchhsa.org.