Welcome to the TARE website!

Here is a User Manual that provides tips and guidelines for our enhanced site.

* Please Note:  The Texas Adoption Resources Exchange (TARE) has been enhanced with several features.  In order to view the full information on each child and to inquire about a child or sibling group online, families will need to create a unique log-in account and build their family profile in the TARE system.  All families previously registered with Adoption Family Network (AFN) will need to re-register in order to have their information continue on the redesigned TARE website.  In order to re-register, these families will need to go through the process of creating a new log in account and building a family profile in TARE. 

Celebrate National Foster Care
Month in May

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to renew our commitment to ensuring a bright future for the children and youth in foster care. Visit the 2012 National Foster Care Month web section to find resources that support child welfare professionals as they seek to achieve well-being with children and youth in care.

A Calling To Foster Care

John and Diana Alejos first decided to foster in 1978 right after they were married.  The main reason at the time was because they wanted children really badly and didn't want to wait a minimum of nine months!  Once they started fostering, they really found their passion.  The Alejos fostered from 1979 to 1998.  They cared for many, many children, but Diana has "all that packed away" and can't remember the exact number!  The family did all kinds of care back then, from emergency overnight care to the long term care of large sibling groups.

The family took a hiatus from fostering in 1998 so that they could raise their birth children up and get them through college!  The Alejos started fostering again in November 2010.  Since then, they have fostered 33 children and recently added their daughter, Holly as a caregiver and currently have 11 children in their home.  Three of the children currently in the home have been there since December 3, 2010!  The Alejos currently have this sibling group of three, a sibling group of four, another sibling group of three and a single child.  All three of these sibling groups would have been separated in foster care had the Alejos not been able to provide them with a home!

Besides the fact that they can accept large sibling groups, the Alejos are just awesome foster parents.  They are very child focused and their entire family revolves around the needs and well-being of the children in their home.  They work hard to provide a world of experiences to children in a very short period of time.   They take the children to every festival and activity that you can imagine.  If you see the calendar in the Alejos home, it is completely filled in with activities and events that are child oriented.  This includes a recent trip on the Texas State Railroad (for 14 people), a special day at the Lufkin Zoo for foster children, the girls are all in Girl Scouts, the children all go the Lowe's Build It Workshop every other Saturday, the family takes the children to the Nacogdoches Naturally events which have recently included a fishing trip and a wonderful day at campground learning how to cook over a campfire and other fun activities.  The children in this home will tell you that they love it there!  Even when they have to be disciplined, they know that they are loved and valued.

Regarding the reason they continue to foster, Diana says, "Because we can't think of anything else we would rather be doing with our lives.  We love what we are doing and feel like we are called by God to do it."  Diana elaborated, "I really feel like this is what I am meant to do."  The whole family enjoys fostering and feels like they really make a difference and they help more by fostering children and not adopting.  Diana feels like she is good at fostering.  She says they try to heal the children of all that pain they have been through so that they can be adopted or return to their families.

Diana says that families considering fostering need to know the backgrounds of the children in their homes so they can use that information to meet the children's needs.  Potential foster parents need to know that the children have been deprived of love, so that is the number one thing, "You have to show them you love them no matter what.  When they get in trouble, they all want to know, 'Do you still love me?'  It is so important to be sure that they know that!"  Diana and John further note that organization is very important.  Diana keeps a binder on each child and 'everything goes in it'.  If children go to the doctor, the binder comes along.  Diana can't express the need to be organized and stay on top of the paper work.  The caseworkers who work with this family can tell you that her organization is so helpful to them in keeping up with what is going on with the children.  Finally the Alejos note that you have to be able to think like a kid and play like kid.  If you have the opportunity to see this family in action, you will know that this is a standard they live by!

Finally we asked Diana what advice she would have for someone who is thinking about fostering.  Her thoughtful answer follows:

It is very rewarding, but you have to be able to not get your feelings hurt.  You have to know that the time after family visits is difficult for many reasons.  Sometimes the children cry after visits and sometimes they act out.  Their mother may have given them a can of soda at the visit and this small gift will overshadow all the wonderful things that you have done for them.  You can give the children everything in the world, but those little things from their parents still mean the world to them.  You have to have a tough skin and not get your feelings hurt about that.  They still love you, but the love from their parents means more than anything you could ever do.

The Alejos family are true veterans of the foster care program and they are a blessing the children in their home.  One little girl told her much older sister in a telephone conversation recently, "I love my foster family!  They take good care of me and we have fun!"  When asked what she liked best about living at the Alejos home, a three year old child recently said, "We get to eat!"  It is kind of sad that this is what makes this little child happy, but it does reflect the notion that sometimes what makes a child's world better is some small thing that the rest of us would take for granted.  The Alejos family strives to be sure that each child leaves their home having had all those small little needs and a whole bunch of great big needs met!

Photo listings are updated daily. Families with approved home studies can inquire through the child's interest form on their photo/profile page. Go to View Waiting Children.

Photographs of children available for adoption and in Heart Galleries are for viewing only and may not be downloaded, used, or published without the express permission of DFPS and/or the photographers who took them.

Note: Children come into the care of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) due to abuse or neglect. Therefore, families who adopt children through the agency should have an understanding or be willing to learn the dynamics of neglect, physical or sexual abuse.