It's a crisis of care. With roughly 3,000 children in the foster care system in Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County's largest agency said there's an urgent demand for more foster families. One Ruskin woman who began fostering children eight years ago is urging more families to consider stepping up. 33-year-old Kayla Storey strives to bring peace into the lives of foster kids. "They just settle in and they can be kids, which is the goal. I just want them to be kids," Storey said. "They can just take a breath here. You just walk in and you're okay, and I reassure them all the time, like, 'You're okay.'" Storey shares three children with her ex-husband. Two of them are deaf. She also works full-time, but over the last eight years, she's found the space in her home and heart to care for more than 500 foster kids. "In the very beginning, I just wanted to help. There are a ton of [foster] kids in Hillsborough County," she said. Initially, Storey acted as an emergency home for the Children's Home Network Agency, taking in some kids for as short as a few hours. In recent years, her focus has been on caring for teenagers, particularly young women and trafficking survivors. Her goal is to prepare them for life beyond the foster care system. Storey said she works hand-in-hand with the families of these children, with the goal of reunification in mind. "It's not that they don't have families, it's just an unfortunate circumstance with their family that they ended up in foster care. So it's not something that any of these kids did wrong," she said. Without enough foster homes like Storey's, local kids are placed in "congregate care" or group homes. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/community/ruskin-woman-fostered-more-than-500-kids-urges-more-families-to-get-involved/67-9bb23a1b-26af-4ea1-bb1c-e33bd8e11e95