I've been taking care of foster pets for a number of months, and nearly all
of those foster pets have been Chias (the exceptions were an invisible Kacheek
that no one wanted because you couldn't see her, and another was a Uni that
had a horrible name and an illness). I felt that I needed to choose a specific
species of NeoPets to help, rather than fostering ALL of the pets, because it
seemed that choosing one would help make the job feel less like a hopeless case.
I chose Chias because at the time that I began having foster pets they were
prevalent in the Adoption Agency, and because they can become fruits, which
I think is pretty cool.
After having a large number of foster pets go through my "home," two at any
given time, Chias have become far less common in the adoption agency. In fact,
when I go there to find a new foster pet for my foster home it usually takes
me an hour now to find a Chia who needs a home.
It seems foster care programs are working!
So what would happen if twice as many people were having foster pets than
currently are? What would happen if Neopians would donate to the existing foster
families, so these Neopians could spend more time taking care of foster pets
and less time trying to save the Neopoints for paint brushes?
I can tell you what would happen: The Adoption Agency would be nearly empty.
The only time you'd see a pet there would be when they've JUST been placed in
the adoption agency, either by some Neopian who couldn't care for them any longer
(and these would be quickly adopted by a foster family), or when a pet who's
been in foster care comes into the adoption agency to be adopted into their
permanent family.
So how can you help empty out the adoption agency?
First, decide if you can afford to be a foster family. If you spend a lot
of time on NeoPets (if you spend about an hour or more on each day), and you
have more Neopoints than you need to feed and train you existing pets, then
you'd be a great foster parent. If you decide to be a foster family, then you
should decide what kind of pets you're going to foster. You could decide this
based on species (like me), or based on names (choosing only pets who have names
that would make it difficult for them to be adopted, like names that contain
mostly numbers), or even based on colour if you want. Finally, you should find
a pet in the adoption agency to adopt, and adopt them.
While a foster pet is in your care, your goal is to make them more likely
to be adopted once they are back in the Adoption Agency. You can do this in
a number of ways:
1) Raise their stats, especially their level
2) Change their species to something more desirable (such as making
Lennys into Poogles for example)
3) Change their colour - a pet that is painted is far more likely
to be adopted then one that is a "normal" colour
I personally do not suggest giving foster pets a PetPet when you release them
for adoption. Many people search the adoption agency for pets who have PetPets
and adopt the pet only long enough to steal the PetPet.
There are many guilds that can help you become a foster family, but you don't
need to join one to do this. Also, you can take as much or as little time to
improve these pets as you want. I take about a week with each pet, doing two
Chias at a time, since I can spend a lot of time on NeoPets. Some foster families
have one foster pet for a few months before the pet goes to their permanent
home.
If you decide you cannot afford to be a foster family, you can still help!
Find and individual foster family and donate to them, or donate to a guild that
helps foster families. Donations of paint brushes, codestones, dubloons, books,
morphing potions, magical toys, laboratory map pieces, and Neopoints are all
helpful.
For those of you who are foster families, please be kind to those who donate
to you--they're doing you and your foster pets a huge favour.
Good luck to all of you--together we can make sure every pet in Neopia has
a loving home. | 
