Rosie O’Donnell will return as social worker Rita Hendricks in “The Fosters.” Screenshot courtesy of ABC Family.

Actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell in August will return as foster care social worker Rita Hendricks in the award-winning ABC Family series “The Fosters.”

The second season of the series, which follows a lesbian couple in California who are raising birth, adopted and foster children, will premiere June 16. O’Donnell will appear in two episodes in August, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

O’Donnell portrays Rita Hendricks, a social worker who runs a group home for foster children. She develops a relationship with Callie (actress Maia Mitchell), a troubled foster child in the Foster residence who is placed in the group home after she runs away from home.

Youtube has two clips of social worker Rita Hendricks. You can watch them by clicking here and here. O’Donnell also talked about how she landed the role in this ABC Family clip.

O’Donnell, who is a lesbian, has adopted and fostered children and has long been an advocate for LGBT parents. She was watching The Fosters with her daughter last year and fell in love with the show.

She contacted executive producer Peter Paige, who O’Donnell worked with on the Showtime series “Queer as Folk.”

“And I emailed him and he said ‘Hey, you want to do an episode or two’ and I said, ‘Please. Yes,'” O’Donnell said.

Social workers have a long relationship with “The Fosters.” National  Association of Social Workers staff got a chance to review the series before it premiered in 2013.  Geoffrey Rivas, who played social worker “Bill” on the program, was a guest of NASW at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services’ Voice Awards in 2013. And the series won a 2014 NASW Media Award for its positive portrayal of a social worker.