Welcome to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Work of Heart Volunteer Respite Program! This program was developed in cooperation with the Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center (FAPAC).

As with all parents, foster parents need a break every now and then, too! Often these breaks can be the difference between a successful foster care placement and one that ends in another move for the child. There are many reasons children need to live with foster families or adoptive families. They may be victims of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse; neglect; poverty; and/or abandonment. Their parents may be unable to care for them because of their own disabilities, illness, or inability to provide for the child's special needs. There are currently 6,000 children and youth in foster care in the metropolitan area, and the numbers are increasing.