Children First Foster Family Agency
All children deserve love and acceptance — and with the help of some devoted adults, Children First Foster Family Agency provides exactly that to our community’s most vulnerable youngsters.
Children First is a private, nonprofit agency committed to helping individuals of all ages realize their full potential and achieve their personal goals. The agency is dedicated to providing a safe, supportive environment that nurtures and inspires the children, adults and families they work with daily. Founded in 1999 by Mike Logan, the agency has grown from one employee to nearly 50, and from one small office to offices in Tehama, Shasta and Siskiyou counties. Programs include foster care, counseling and programs that give children a chance to excel.
“There is nothing more rewarding than to know that we have provided something to someone who may not have received it if we were not here,” Logan says.
People are often surprised to learn that they have exactly what it takes to be a foster parent, even if they don’t look like a traditional “family.” To get started, potential foster parents just need to be 21 or older and have a stable, loving home, a sustainable income, reliable transportation, citizenship or permanent legal residency, and enough time to devote to the success of their foster children.
Logan moved from Colorado to Yuba City when he was 11 and joined the military at 18. His career took him to the Pentagon, factories, mines and lumber mills before he took on the challenge of establishing and running the area’s first medical model alcohol and drug treatment center at a Redding hospital. He was also the founding administrator for the first Christian treatment center for alcohol and drug addiction in Northern California, where the first immediate care facility for the developmentally disabled was developed.
“As my wife and I were busy building our lives and our future, we realized that there was something missing and we wanted to have children in our lives,” Logan says. “This is when we first considered becoming foster parents.”
Their adventure began with twin 7-year-old boys in 1995, and the Logans wrapped them up in healing, love and support. Today, both boys are married and have given the Logans six grandchildren.
“We have always thought of these children as our own, from the first morning we brought them home,” Logan says. “It was from this experience that the idea of creating a foster family agency came about.”
Logan is also the founder of Children First Counseling Center and Lassen Counseling Services, an agency that was started as a response to the growing need for counseling services in rural Northern California and the desire to change lives by helping people through difficult times.
“I am passionate about protecting children because most often they cannot protect themselves,” says one Children First social worker. “I believe that every child deserves a loving, safe home in order to develop into the best person that they can be. If a child cannot stay with their biological family, then I am passionate to try and help them receive the best treatment and experience in their foster home environment.”
Anyone who would like to learn more about Children First Foster Family Agency can find more information at www.childrenfirstffa.com.