The foster care system is always looking for high-quality, loving parents that can bring a child into their home and provide the love and nurturing for the child to thrive. The foster care training process can take some time, as you will get your home assessed to determine if it is suitable for a foster child, and you will go through training to learn more about how to provide care for children who are not able to return to their parents at this time. Children in foster care are in a vulnerable place, and they need the support you can give them to deal with the harsh reality of not living with their birth parents.

The Needs of Children in Your Care

You might choose to be an emergency foster home, or take on a foster child as a pre-adoptive parent. An emergency foster home allows children to come at any time of the night and provides care until the social worker finds a more permanent placement. Children who arrive to your home on an emergency basis often have minimal belongings and need their basic needs met. You might spend the night rocking a small baby to sleep, or talking to a teenager who has been removed because of domestic violence in the home. Your nurturing and listening ear can have a positive impact at this difficult time.

Training to Become a Foster Parent

Your training will involve learning about the different types of children in the foster care system, how to be supportive, and what it means to be a foster parent. You will be able to ask questions, and you will go through a home study process so that you and the agency you are working for can get to know one another better. Training is generally ongoing, but you do the bulk of the work before you ever open as a foster home. 

Providing Care for Now

The foster care system is supposed to be temporary. When you decide that you aren't interested in adopting children placed in your care, the goal is to find the children a permanent placement. It's possible that the child in your care is going back to biological parents, but it is also possible that they are going to be placed in a permanent, adoptive home. Your job is to keep the child safe and nurtured until they move to their forever home.

Take the time to become a foster parent, and you'll be able to make a difference in the lives of children. For more help, contact a company like Kids Count Too today.

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