The National Authority for Child Care (NACC) is encouraging more Filipino families to open their homes and apply as foster parents to provide temporary care for abandoned, abused, or neglected children.

NACC director Imelda Ronda said the agency, which is attached to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), currently has more than 1,000 licensed foster parents nationwide.

Over 700 children have already received temporary care through the program.

“Foster care is the temporary nurturing of a child who has been abandoned, surrendered, neglected, abused, or exploited, and who has no parents to care for them,” Ronda said. “So we have licensed foster parents who are willing to temporarily provide a family.”

The initiative is mandated by Republic Act 10165, or the Foster Care Act of 2012, which requires the state to provide special protection for children from all forms of neglect and cruelty.

It also seeks to safeguard the rights of a foster family’s biological children, ensuring they are not disadvantaged by the presence of a foster child.

Children under foster care currently receive a monthly subsidy — P8,000 for healthy children and P10,000 for those with special needs. Ronda said the NACC is studying possible amendments to the law to increase this subsidy.

“The NACC is also studying having an amendment to the law. Maybe the subsidy can be increased because, as you know, the price of goods is high now, especially if the child is already in school,” Ronda said.

She also stressed that there is no discrimination in the selection process and encouraged a diverse group of Filipinos to apply as foster parents.

Married couples, solo applicants and members of the LGBTQ+ community may all apply, as each applicant undergoes a thorough assessment by a social worker to determine their capacity to properly care for a child.

Donn Albert Torres, who began fostering with his wife Vanessa Grace in 2021, shared their motivation.

“There was just so much love to give. That’s at the top of our list,” he said, citing past misfortunes like miscarriages. “We had this love to share, and fostering is really, you know, devotion and advocacy.”