Program History

Since 1980, Lutheran Community Services Northwest has served children, primarily teenagers, from all over the world through our unaccompanied minor foster care program (known today as Refugees Northwest Foster Care). These children have come to the United States without families as ‘unaccompanied minor’ refugees or asylum seekers. They have left behind war, persecution or instability that separated them from their families.

The United States is the only country with a specialized program that provides homes and services to unaccompanied refugee and immigrant minors. Here in Seattle we are one of the longest-running such programs and our decades of experience and expertise are reflected in the quality of services we provide.

Today

Refugees Northwest Foster Care continues to support dozens of youth and their foster families each year. The need has never been greater. In recent years we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of refugee and immigrant youth in need of families to call their own.

You can make a profound impact on the life of a young person. Contact us if you would like to learn more about how you can become a foster parent or host home.

 

Funding for our program is provided by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement and the WA State Office of Refugee & Immigrant Assistance, a division of the Department of Social & Health Services. Refugees Northwest Foster Care is an affiliate of Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service (LIRS).