What is Foster Care?
Many of us have heard about the foster care system. Much of what we have heard focuses on the negative aspects of foster care and foster parents. Some of what we have heard is incorrect.
What the foster care system is: a temporary arrangement in which adults provide for the care of a child or children whose birth parent is unable to care for them. Foster care is not where juvenile delinquents go. It is where children go when their parents cannot, for a variety of reasons, care for them.
Foster care can be arranged through the courts or a social service agency. The goal for a child in the foster care system is usually reunification with the birth family, but may be changed to adoption when this is seen as in the child's best interest. While foster care is temporary, adoption is permanent.
Adoption from the foster care system can happen in two ways. Foster adoption or foster-to-adopt, is a form of adoption in which a child is placed into a home as a foster child, with the expectation that the child will become legally free and be adopted by the foster, parents. Some children are not adopted by their foster parents. Their birth parents rights have been terminated, and they are legally free for adoption. (www.adopt.org)
Our Program…
One on one training, support, and education for foster parents
Respite care and resource families needed
Foster homes for older children needed
Counseling offered
Who can be a Foster Parent?
Anyone over the age of 21 can become a foster parent. You can be single, married, divorced, or a widow. No certain income is required, but you must be able to meet all household needs. One of the most important factors about becoming a foster parent is getting the support and encouragement you need from the Home for Children. Our professional staff provides 24/7 support, encouragement and training to you every step of the way.