Foster Care Q&A

Who are foster parents?

Foster parents are special, loving people. These parents go through a comprehensive approval process. They agree to take in children who often have special needs and are acting out because they’ve been victims of abuse and have been taken from their homes and parents. The parents go through constant monitoring and have their lives disrupted on a daily basis. Being a foster parent is difficult, that’s why so few apply.

Foster parents represent a wide variety of ages, races, and incomes. They may be single or married, but they all share a strong desire and calling to help children. If someone is not married, but co-habitating, one of those people would become the foster parent. The state will license anyone who meets all the requirements. They do not make lifestyle judgments; the county is here to find families for children and is looking for those who meet the needs of those children.

Explain more about the process of becoming a foster parent?
The process involves police and credit checks, fingerprinting, home inspections, extensive training, and family interviews with a homestudy assessor. Pre-service training for prospective adoptive and foster parents involves 36 hours of classes that include discussions, speakers, case studies, and videos, as well as application of the material to life situations. Once approved, foster parents must complete 40 hours of training in each 2-year license period.

Classes teach foster parents about the child protection system, help them understand child development and maltreatment effects, and show them how to deal with children’s emotional and behavioral problems.

What leads a child to foster care?
Generally, abuse or neglect. The public would be astounded by the amount and type of abuse and neglect the community’s children suffer. In Hamilton County, 5,058 reports of abuse and neglect were made to the 241-KIDS child abuse reporting hotline in 2010. These cases involved sexual abuse, bruises, burns, fractures, children not being fed, parents refusing to give their children medical attention, hazardous living conditions and more.

Who abuses the children?
Most often, the parents. According to one government study that looked at child deaths, eight out of 10 children who die from abuse or neglect die at the hands of their parents or their parent’s partner. Less than one percent die at the hands of a foster parent or other state-appointed temporary custodian. Almost 1,500 children died from abuse or neglect in this country in 2004.

If a child is determined to be abused, what happens?
Children are removed from a home after an investigation and a court decision. The decision to remove a child from a parent’s home is not one made by an individual caseworker. The courts give the agency permission to remove a child and that decision is based on the risk to the child. The agency does not make this decision.

Once a child is removed from a home, what happens?
Laws require Children’s Services to try to reunite children with birth parents. Children’s Services agencies are mandated to provide families with services so they can stay together. Reunification is always the number one goal, but not at the expense of the child’s safety.

The children stay in foster care while attempting reunification?
Yes. Children are placed in the foster care home that best suits their individual needs. Once potential foster parents are approved, the foster home placement facilitator is notified. The placement facilitator coordinates the process of matching children with foster homes. The county chooses foster parents who are best able to meet that child’s needs. Race, color and national origin are not factors in choosing foster parents.

Are the children monitored?
Hamilton County workers visit the foster home at least once a month to meet and talk with the child. Also, each child has a guardian ad litem who has regular contact with the child to ensure safety.

Can I choose the age of the foster child?

Yes. But please be aware children of all ages need foster parents.

Does the county try to ensure children are placed in homes with parents of the same race?

The county chooses foster parents who are best able to meet that child’s needs. Race, color and national origin are not factors in choosing foster parents.

But many foster children are African American?
Yes, but the decision to remove a child from a parent’s home is not one made by an individual caseworker. The courts give the agency permission to remove a child and that decision is based on the risk to the child, not the race.

If I become a foster parent, will someone help me support the foster child?

Foster parents earn a daily rate to cover room and board for foster children. Medical and dental care are also covered. The payments will vary depending on a child’s age and needs.

What about medical insurance for foster children?

Foster children are eligible for Medicaid, which will cover medical expenses, dental expenses and any type of treatment the child may need.

Can I work outside the home?

Yes. But the child must have a safe place to stay while you are working.

Do I have to own my own home?

No. You just need a safe home and adequate space for the child

Do foster children have to have their own bedroom?

In most cases, foster children can share a bedroom with another child of the same sex.

Can I take the foster child on vacation with me?

With permission of the child's social worker.

How long will a foster child remain in my home?

That depends on the case plan for the child. The goal is to seek a permanent placement for the child as quickly as possible. The first choice is reunification with the family, and Children’s Services will attempt services to make that possible. The child will remain in foster care for as long as necessary to successfully complete reunification or until a decision is made to go in another direction.

What if reunification is not possible? Can I adopt?
Adoption would then become the option, in most cases. Foster families often become adoptive parents. The county’s first goal is to reunify the abused or neglected child with the biological family, but in, some cases, the biological parents rights are terminated because the family situation is not safe for the child. In that case, foster parents often adopt their foster children.

What is the difference between foster care and adoption?

Foster care is temporary. Adoption is permanent. Because permanency is the ultimate goal for all children in custody, if it is decided reunification with the family is not possible, adoption is the preferred placement for children.