You might say Child Focus exists because of a missed birthday.

Executive director Sherry Brock said the nonprofit agency was founded by Stephanie Holland, a local psychologist, and Gloria Bernal, a social worker who at the time was head of Regina Hall, a group home for at-risk adolescent girls operated by Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada.

"Stephanie had a young man in her office," Brock said. "She had his file and saw that his birthday had been two days earlier."

It had been the seventh birthday of the boy, who was in foster care. Holland asked the usual questions: Did he have a nice birthday? A cake? A party?

But the boy didn't know it had been his birthday.

"That's just a reality of the system," Brock said.

The incident moved Holland and Bernal to found Child Focus, and today, at least some of the foster children in Clark County know that their birthdays will be celebrated.

"We try to make that one special day special for them," Brock said.

But that's just one aspect of Child Focus.

"The sole mission of our organization is serving children who live in foster care," she said.

The agency does that through several programs, including Birthday Wishes, which provides birthday presents in the range of $20 to $25. Currently, children in group homes are served by the Birthday Wishes program, but starting in November, Brock said, those served by one of the Nevada Department of Family Services' neighborhood centers will be included, too.

Another Child Focus service is the Sibling Unification Program, in which siblings who are in foster care but living apart have a chance to spend time together. Unification events are offered quarterly -- such as the Oct. 19 fishing tournament, which included fishing, a barbecue, awards and entertainment -- but beginning in January, Brock said, Child Focus will begin offering supervised sibling visits at the central family services' site as a six-month pilot program.

"'If it flows well and has great benefits for the kids, we will expand that to the other neighborhood care centers," she said.

Child Focus' Academic Success program involves reading and math tutoring for foster kids in grades kindergarten through 12. The weekly sessions are in the child's home for 10 weeks and are conducted by trained volunteers whose backgrounds have been checked.

"They can continue at the end of 10 weeks, or if they need more in-depth tutoring, we will find those services and often pay for those," she said.

In another program, five foster children each year who are about to enter ninth grade receive mentoring for the duration of their high school careers. Mentors monitor their charges academically, help with job counseling that may include shadowing, visit school campuses with them, and assist them with financial-aid forms and college applications. And while they're in high school, the students can, through good grades, earn money -- which can total as much as $10,000 -- for college assistance.

The Step Up program, Brock said, is funded by Clark County and serves foster kids who are 18 to 21 years old, helping them with budgeting, life-skills classes, nutrition and in some cases, parenting, "so they're ready to step out on their own."

Brock said that not including Step Up participants, Child Focus serves 750 to 1,000 children a year. Financial support is provided by fundraisers and private and corporate donations.

The agency has more than 200 active volunteers, but Brock said more always are needed. To volunteer for Child Focus or make a donation, call 436-1624.