A San Diego Fostering Network
Our Mission Statement:
Angels Foster Family Network is a licensed foster family agency with a unique focus on prevention, based on the stable placement of abused infants and toddlers with nurturing families who promote healing and critical attachment, resulting in healthy growth and development.
We are a 501C(3) non-profit, licensed foster family agency founded in 1998. We specialize in proving exceptional families for infants and toddlers in San Diego County.
Download the Angels Foster Family Network brochure here
How Angels Began
Cathy Richman, our CEO, founded Angels in response to the crisis she witnessed as a volunteer with the San Diego County Juvenile Court. Drawing on her experience as a child advocate and her research in child development, Cathy developed a model of foster care staffed by professionals and dedicated to placing victimized babies with the most carefully-screened and trained parents. She envisioned a select group of parents whose motives for fostering arose out of love for children, and who would commit to nurturing them for long periods of time. The result was Angels Foster Family Network.
In 1999, Angels placed its first baby, and as of April 2011, over 445 babies have been rescued through the program.
Cathy has donated her time as CEO and been a 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, she 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 dangers of traditional foster care.
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 the community.
Angels Honors
Recognized as a leader in the transformation of 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. In July 2003, the Discovery Health Channel profiled Angels and two of its adoptive foster families in nationwide documentaries.
In 2001 Cathy was awarded the Channel 10 Leadership Award for her groundbreaking work. In September, 2005 she was selected by Congressman Darrell Issa to be one of 180 Congressional Angels in Adoption of 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 she was a finalist for Governor and Maria Schwarzenegger’s Minerva Award. In 2007, Cathy was a recipient of the San Diego Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” award. In 2011, she was honored as one of Salvation Army’s “Fifteen Fantastics,” Women of Dedication.
