FOSTER SOURCE
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Mission Statement
Organizational Background Be the Source’s mission is to promote healing and stability for children and families impacted by foster and kinship care through transformational resources, community and support. Founded as a grassroots initiative in 2016 by former foster parents and current adoptive parents, Renee and Brian Bernhard, "Foster Source" was created to address critical gaps in support for both caregivers and the vulnerable children in their care. In response to the 2018 passage of the federal Family First Prevention Services Act, Foster Source expanded its programs to better support kinship caregivers in addition to foster parents. With the full implementation of the Act in 2022, the organization became one of the few agencies in the state of Colorado to offer dual support for both children and their caregivers in the child welfare system. In 2025, Foster Source rebranded to "Be the Source" to reflect its expanded mission and the variety of families it now serves. Today, Be The Source is committed to turning the focus back to the children, ensuring they receive the care and stability they deserve. The agency is focused on addressing needs including: under-resourced caregivers; lack of lived-experience voices in local, state and federal policy decisions; overall lack of understanding about the purpose of out-of-home care; mental health and wellbeing of caregivers and children; stability for children in care; and reducing or removing the barriers and lack of resources that child welfare families face. The work is driven by the understanding that every child involved in child welfare deserves a supportive environment where they can heal and thrive. By providing free and comprehensive support to those who care for them, Be the Source aims to inspire lasting change and positive outcomes for the children served. Our Goals, Our Values, Our Why Research shows that a key element for children from abuse and neglect to heal is an attuned, trauma-informed caregiver. Therefore, Be The Source’s goals are to: To allow children needing out of home care the opportunity to begin to heal by ensuring they receive the best possible therapeutic parenting. Stabilize out of home placements by investing in caregiver support, ensuring that children remain in the best placement whenever possible, fostering stability and promoting healing. Reduce caregiver turnover by addressing the root causes of burnout, including a lack of support, training, and resources. Advocate for policy changes at the local, state, and federal levels to elevate the voices of foster and kinship families and the children in their care. Promote mental health and wellbeing by providing trauma-informed therapy and respite services for caregivers and children. Enhance public understanding of the child welfare system and the challenges caregivers and children face. Our core values: Lived Experience: We highly value listening to, learning from and shaping programming around feedback from those with lived experience in child welfare. Community: It’s all about relationships. We value the transformative impact of connection and prioritize social support as essential for the well-being of children and families. Resourcefulness: We are committed to being mindful and diligent with our gifts and resources, and we are inspired to find quick and creative ways to help families overcome challenges and unusual problems. Equity in Child Welfare: We value the rights of everyone involved in child welfare, and we support a balanced, common sense approach to outcomes for families that prioritizes long term healing for children. Our why: Children deserve to heal. Child welfare is grossly misunderstood, under-resourced and devalued. Stereotypes of old school foster parents “doing it for the money” are harmful and wrong. Families are struggling, and support services are lacking. Children are lingering in out of home care far too long. Child welfare is on the verge of doing more harm than good. It’s time to support all families, reunify children when possible and support lasting and therapeutic permanency when reunification isn’t possible.
About This Cause
Be The Source offers a comprehensive range of programs and services to support child welfare children and families and focuses on bridging significant gaps in support through a trauma-informed, healing-centered approach. Comprehensive services are offered in both English and Spanish, and at no cost to families. They include parenting education, therapeutic support, relief programs, and individualized advocacy. Specifically: The Learning Source: Offers trauma-informed parenting education through virtual and in-person classes on topics like attachment, parentification, transracial challenges and legal updates. Classes are available in English and Spanish. Classes are also available on demand with over 100 hours of recordings, offering flexibility and inclusivity. Therapeutic Services: In-person and virtual therapeutic services provided through in house clinicians with lived experience, contracted clinicians with lived experience or training and expertise in child welfare, as well as through partnerships with BetterHelp and Khesed Wellness. These no cost therapy sessions for both children and caregivers support their healing from trauma and grief. This program also includes equine-assisted parenting labs, which offer innovative, experiential learning sessions designed to help caregivers better address the emotional and behavioral needs of children who have experienced abuse and neglect. Of note, in 2024, Be The Source was approved as a Medicaid provider. Relief Services: This program provides essential items such as car seats, clothing, and diapers, along with financial support for necessities like car repairs, utility bills, and groceries. Be The Source handles procurement and delivery to ensure timely assistance and to reduce barriers that could otherwise prevent ideal placements or disrupt stable placements. Ambassador Project: Local ambassadors with lived experience in child welfare represent Be the Source and partner agency Cobbled Streets in Colorado’s 23 judicial districts. Ambassadors help caregivers connect, creating peer-to-peer groups that support each other through monthly events, fostering community engagement and localized support. Family Advocacy: Personalized advocacy helps caregivers navigate benefits, legal processes, and other challenges. Advocates assist with understanding legal rights, creating tailored service plans, and accessing necessary resources. The Respite Source: Officially launched in 2024, this program offers short-term, restorative care options, giving caregivers a break to prevent burnout. The virtual platform is Colorado’s first statewide respite database for foster and kinship caregivers. Measuring Impact Be The Source employs comprehensive evaluation methods to measure the success and impact of its work and is committed to continuous improvement. In partnership with Colorado State University and through the Tony Grampsas Youth Services grant, surveys are implemented annually to collect demographic data and soft metrics. This partnership enhances the ability to assess the effectiveness of programs in meeting established goals. By utilizing these criteria, Be The Source ensures that its programs not only meet the immediate needs of caregivers but also contribute significantly to the emotional and developmental well-being of the children they serve. Historically, Be The Source consistently served 4,000 unique individuals annually, however, the organization has seen this number increase steadily in the last two years and in 2024, Be The Source served over 5,000 unique individuals. This number includes the children in the foster care and kinship homes and the caregivers and foster parents and is a significant milestone that reflects the increasing demand for its healing-centered, evidence-informed programs. Importantly, Be The Source is proud to be highlighted in the 2024 State of the System Report released by the Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families and Illuminate Colorado. Beyond being recognized as an “exemplary organization”, Be The Source is uniquely aligned with all six strategic recommendations presented in the report and has the concepts actively implemented in programming. These include: Improved Communication and Clarity within the System (implemented in the Learning Source and Family Advocacy) Fostering a Supportive and Empathetic Approach (implemented in all programs, and particularly in Therapeutic Services) Building a Solid Foundation of Support (implemented in Family Advocacy and Ambassador programming) More Funding for Community-based Organizations (Be the Source is a community based organization) Enhancing Kinship and Foster Caregiver Support by partnering with non-profits (implemented agency wide) Prioritizing Language Justice (implemented in bilingual Family Advocacy options as well as the Learning Source with Spanish language inclusion) Our programs are not only responsive to urgent needs but also proactively aligned with best practices in the child welfare field. The organization’s impact is well illustrated through the reach and outcomes of its comprehensive programs. Each initiative is designed to address a specific gap in support for child welfare families, and together, they form an integrated system of care that promotes healing, stability, and resilience. Below is a summary of each program and the number of individuals served during the last completed fiscal year. Hard data from 2024: The Learning Source Target Population: Foster parents and kinship caregivers. Numbers Served: In 2024, 1,242 unique learners engaged, and with a total of 3,635 participants. Therapeutic Services Target Population: Foster parents, kinship caregivers and children in care seeking emotional and mental support. Numbers Served: 162 new therapy clients were served and Be The Source sponsored 1,290 therapy sessions; 60 people participated in the monthly equine-assisted parenting lab. Relief Program Target Population: Foster and kinship families facing financial stressors. Numbers Served: In 2024, Be The Source filled 1,384 requests for items with the most common requests being gas, food, clothing, diapers and beds. Ambassador Project Target Population: Caregivers in Colorado judicial districts, including those in rural districts with limited resources. Numbers Served: Ambassadors are currently active in 10 judicial districts in Colorado and hosted a total of 95 monthly events for caregivers in unique districts; 528 unique caregivers were served. Family Advocacy Target Population: Kinship and foster families. Numbers Served: In 2024, the first full year of operations for this program, 43 families were served and 110 unique children were served. Only 7% of families who worked with a Family Advocate experienced a placement disruption. Colorado averages 70% placement disruptions. Respite Source Target Population: Kinship and foster caregivers seeking safe and quality short-term/day/hourly care for children. The Respite Source officially launched at the end of 2024 and hosted 11 users. In 2025, there are 72 caregiver families using the Respite Source.