Although Native Hawaiians only make up about 20% of Hawaiʻi’s population, nearly 50% of keiki in the foster care system are Native Hawaiian.

In this Ka Wai Ola News exclusive video, we hear from some of the kānaka who dedicate their hearts and homes to care for Native Hawaiian children in foster care. The Keola and Osorio families share their stories of resource caregiving (fostering) and send their kāhea out to encourage other Native Hawaiian families to become resource caregivers to Hawaiian keiki.

Resource care professionals Jan Dill and Billie-Ann Bruce also share their manaʻo about the crisis, emphasizing the importance of keeping Native Hawaiian keiki connected to their culture by keeping them here in Hawaiʻi with Hawaiian families.

As Kauʻi Keola reminds us, “it’s our kuleana” to care for Native Hawaiian keiki. To find out how you can become a resource caregiver, or other ways to kōkua the foster care community, contact our Hui Hoʻomalu foster licensing program. 

Read more about Hui Hoʻomalu, foster care in Hawaiʻi, and these ʻohanas that are fostering aloha.

To fulfill our mission of inspiring and equipping families and communities for success and service, Ka Pa‘alana provides comprehensive family education programming for homeless and at-risk families with young children. The program operates across Oʻahu from the Leeward Coast to Kakaʻako and Kailua, as well as East Hawaiʻi Island.

Annually, Ka Paʻalana serves about 500 children ages birth to five and their caregivers by preparing children for school, equipping caregivers to be their child’s first and most important teacher, and empowering adults to not only move toward self-sufficiency, but to give back to their community.

“We are ecstatic to receive this grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs,” said Jan E. Hanohano Dill, our president and founder. “We are grateful for their generous support and for all they do to help fulfill the mission and vision of building healthy and resilient communities throughout Hawaiʻi.”

To learn more about Ka Paʻalana or the rest of our programs, explore our website and be sure to follow our social media accounts at @pidfoundation.

Partners in Development Foundation (PIDF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public foundation that inspires and equips families and communities for success and service, using timeless Native Hawaiian values and traditions. The goal is to help these communities overcome difficult challenges in ways that would make them, in turn, teachers and helpers of others in need. Since 1997, PIDF has served over 100,000 people in 75 communities across the Hawaiian Islands. To learn more about all of PIDF’s programs serving Hawaiian families, visit www.pidf.org.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) was established by the state Constitutional Convention in 1978. OHA is a semi-autonomous state agency mandated to better the conditions of Native Hawaiians. Guided by a board of nine publicly elected trustees, OHA fulfills its mandate through advocacy, research, community engagement, land management and the funding of community programs. Learn more at www.oha.org.

OHA’s Grants Program supports non-profit organizations whose projects and programs serve the Native Hawaiian community and align with OHA’s Strategic Results. For more information about the Grants Program, please visit www.oha.org/grants.