Vanessa Hernandez

When Serena Skinner was 17 years old, she entered Los Angeles County’s foster care system. She was soon placed with a newly licensed foster mom in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

By Anna Maier and Zefora Ortiz When Eric Wagoner was placed into foster care at age 10, his life was uprooted and his education disrupted. He had to move to a different city and enroll in a new school.

By Sawsan Morrar When Layla Yunus thinks back to her teenage years raising her son Micah, she reminisces about his first smiles, his first words. But she also thinks back to the despair and stress she went through being a single, 15-year-old mother who had just entered foster care.