OLYMPIA -- Foster kids across Washington are getting into the swim this month thanks to Family Pool Pass donations from the YMCA for Children's Administration events.

The pool passes are part of a series of quarterly events hosted by the Department of Social and Health Services' (DSHS) Children's Administration (CA) for foster kids and their foster families and relative care-givers and their young charges.

The first event of the 2008 series, "I Have a Dream, You Are Fulfilling That Dream," honors Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. and gives thanks to foster parents and relative care-givers who are fulfilling the dreams of children in their care.

"Foster parents are the unsung heroes in our community," CA Assistant Secretary Cheryl Stephani said. "January seemed to be the perfect time to honor the service ethic and the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. This is a great way to recognize those who provide service to the children of our state every day of the year."

The passes are good for the entire month of January. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated in our state this year on Monday, January 21. Schools will be closed that day, offering kids and their adult caregivers an excellent opportunity to get fit and enjoy their local YMCA pool.

Foster Facts

• About 10,000 children are in out-of-home placements, of that 3,800 are placed with relatives.
• For foster children to be successful, DSHS asks for help from the community. From every neighborhood, every school, and every corner of the state DSHS asks citizens to partner with us to care for abused and neglected children.
• DSHS has significantly increased the percent of children placed with extended family members from 29.5% at the end of 1998 to 38.4% at the end of 2006. Recent legislation expanded the definition of "relative" and also enables DSHS and Children's' Administration employees to place children with people they consider family but may not be a direct-relative.
• The bigger the pool of foster homes we have to choose from, the better we are able to match the needs of children with the skills of foster parents. DSHS would like to find foster homes who will take sibling groups so they are not separated from their brother or sister.
• People become foster parents or relative care-givers to be a loving, positive influence on children who very much need loving, positive adults in their lives.