- One of the first programs in the nation that pairs private detectives with social workers to quickly find lost relatives of longtime, hard-to-place foster children ages 10-18.

 

- Created by the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition in response to the region's estimated 500 foster children who have lived in multiple foster homes and residential centers and risk "aging out" of the system without healthy adult connections or permanent homes.

 

- Seeks to find relatives who can be mentors, guardians or adoptive kin for 150 foster children within the next four years.

 

- Has so far found family connections for 90 percent of its foster care participants and permanent homes for about two-thirds.

 

- Has partnered with the Missouri Children's Division and 19 private agencies to expand.

 

- Is funded partly by a 5-year, $2 million federal Adoption Opportunities Grant.

 

- Hopes to expand nationwide.

 

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