Founded in 1998, the Angels Foster Family Network is a 501C(3) non-profit, licensed foster family agency, specializing in placing infants and toddlers with exceptional families in San Diego County, California.

Download the Angels Foster Family Network brochure here

How Angels Started

CEO Cathy Richman founded Angels 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 with MSW-degreed social workers, and dedicated to placing needy babies with only the most carefully-screened, loving parents. The result was the Angels Foster Family Network.

In 1999, Angels placed its first baby, and as of May 2010, over 390 babies have been rescued through the program. Recognized as a leader in the movement toward better foster care, Angels has been featured in The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Business Journal, San Diego Family Magazine, Ranch and Coast Magazine, Imperial Beach Sun, FOX6 News, and Channel 10 KGTV, which presented Angels with its prestigious Leadership Award in 2001. In July 2003, the Discovery Health Channel profiled Angels and two of its adoptive foster families in 2 nationwide 30-minute documentaries.

Cathy P. Richman, Founder

Cathy Richman has donated her time as CEO and member of the Board of Directors since she founded Angels in 1998. Cathy is involved in every aspect of the Angels program, from fundraising and administration, to training and child placements. A mother of three and former foster parent, Cathy spent 5 years as a volunteer Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in San Diego County Juvenile Courts. During that time she witnessed firsthand the problems and challenges of traditional foster care.

Drawing on her experiences as a child advocate and her research in child development, Cathy developed her own vision for foster care. She envisioned a select corps of foster parents whose motives for fostering arose out of love for children, and who would commit to nurturing foster babies for long periods of time. She dreamed of a day when all foster babies would be properly nurtured and given all the necessary tools to grow up to be healthy, productive members of society.

Angels Honors

In 2001 Cathy was awarded the Channel 10 Leadership Award for being the founder of this unique agency. In September, 2005 she was selected by Congressman Darrell Issa to be one of 180 Congressional Angels in Adoption for the year. Cathy was honored at a national ceremony in Washington, D.C. hosted by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI). In December, 2005, San Diego Metropolitan Magazine named Cathy as one of 26 “Metro Movers To Watch in 2006.” In 2006, Richman was nominated, and was a finalist, for the Minerva Awards. The Minerva Award is given at the Governor and First Lady’s Conference by Maria Shriver. In 2007, Cathy Richman was a recipient of the San Diego Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” award.