Get Started Fostering Goodness
Studies show that youth who are raised in a loving, nurturing family are more likely to have a successful future. When families become involved in child welfare because of child maltreatment or neglect, most are able to remain together through the provision of supportive, family-strengthening services. But sometimes, for safety or other reasons, children have to be removed from their homes. Most of these youth are placed with kin, that is, extended family or close family friends. When this is not possible, we rely on loving, nurturing non-relative families in the community to provide for these youth.
If you have an interest in caring for a child or teen during a difficult time, foster parenting might be right for you.
Learn the basics
To get a better understanding about what foster care is all about, please read through the Foster Care/Kinship Care page and the Foster Care Frequently Asked Questions page. You can also visit AdoptUSKids to learn more about foster care and adoption.
Get a real-life perspective
To help you get a real-life perspective of the joys and challenges of fostering goodness in our community, we have interviewed teens in foster care as well as foster parents of teens. You can watch the videos of teens on the Meet Teens in Foster Care page. Interviews with foster parents are on the Meet Foster Parents page.
Select an agency
Once you have an idea of what it means to be a foster parent, the next step is to meet with family foster care provider agencies.
You can find the basics about all the agencies in our network on the Meet the Agencies page.
Then, you can contact the family foster care provider agencies of interest to you to learn about them and get the details. In addition to any other questions you might have, these are some suggested points for discussion:
- Where do required training classes take place?
- How long will it take to be licensed through your agency?
- Can I speak with two or three current foster parents who are currently licensed through your agency, as a reference?
- What support will I receive once a child is placed in my home?
- What opportunities do you provide so I can connect with other foster parents?
- Do you provide on-call assistance 24/7? Who staffs the on-call and what are their qualifications?
- How will your agency respect my culture, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity?
- How long to foster parents typically remain with your agency?
- What opportunities do you provide to foster parents to offer feedback on the quality of services provided by the agency?
- Can you tell me what I can expect on a typical day of providing foster care?
Still have questions?
Staff at the DHS Director’s Action Line is available weekdays between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm to take your call at 1-800-862-6783. You can also connect with the staff by email and as a walk-in.
THANKS!
And thanks from your community for your interest in welcoming a child or teen into your life when they need it most. We hope you will decide to foster goodness.
Questions?
- Visit the Learn More about Foster Care and Kinship Care page.
- Or contact the Director’s Action Line by email or phone at 1-800-862-6783