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At least 50 local musicians needed to mentor children in foster care

The program Kids in a New Groove, or KING, partners local children in foster care with musician mentors.

AUSTIN, Texas — There's something about the magic of music that has a way of bringing people together in the most unlikely of ways.

A local program called Kids in a New Groove (KING) partners children in foster care with musician mentors. The program currently needs at least 50 local musicians to help out.

Lara Price is a local musician who adores the child she gets to mentor. Price plays in her band all over Austin and is able to share her talents with her mentee.

"Music has been a great way for me to, you know, find my center, find my superpower. And that's what we're doing for these children," Price said. "It's really the old saying of who rescued who? Because she really has helped me open my eyes to so many things."

Price was adopted herself and said this program really hits home for her. She encourages other musicians to get involved and not be intimated. 

"[One] piece of it that I think is a hurdle is the word 'mentorship,' you know? The three little letters 'CPS.' Those are heavy things. And so, I think that if you've been through struggle – which most artists have – they're turning their pain into purpose by being musicians. Then they can mentor these children," Price said.

Josh Ransom is the head of the KING program. It's close to his heart because he has two adopted children. 

He said there is a big need for more musicians to help out right now, and he really wants to get the word out.

"Music is the subject – it is not the only thing. What we're trying to do is build connection, we're trying to, you know, build trust, build confidence," Ransom said. "It's indescribable to see these children get up on the stage and perform for the first time."

Learn more about the KING program.

KVUE launched the Forever Families segment with Partnerships for Children (PFC) in June 2020 to highlight children in the Heart Gallery of Central Texas who need secure and permanent families. Every day, there are nearly 1,000 children waiting to get adopted in Central Texas, according to PFC.

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Editor's note: The children who are in the Heart Gallery program and featured in KVUE's Forever Families segments are children who have had every effort made on their behalf to connect them with family or others in their community to provide options for permanent, adoptive homes. Through no fault of their own, that hasn’t happened yet, and so in partnership with the Department of Family and Protective Services, we collaborate to bring awareness to KVUE viewers about these children in the hopes of finding them permanency before they age out.

MORE FOREVER FAMILIES:

Teen boy in foster care is determined to create his own destiny

How to adopt a child in the Texas foster care system

Bright 15-year-old looking for forever family to help her through high school and college

Sisters looking for a forever family to adopt them together

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