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Qualifications
You could make a wonderful
foster parent to a waiting child if you...
*Are at least
21 years old
*Are single, married, divorced or widowed
*Own or rent your home
*Have adequate financial resources to maintain
the home.
*Can provide for the child’s physical,
mental, and character development
If you meet
these basic qualifications then you're off to
a great start!
The
Process
People just like you provide
foster care to children every day. If you work
with Colorado 's public child welfare system,
you'll find that becoming a foster parent is
a straightforward process.
Contact the Foster Care
Coordinator in your county department of human
or social services or a private child placement
agency to inquire about their family foster
care program by clicking
here. Staff will help you learn more and
guide you through the process. Please
review the steps below.
Step
1: Attend the foster
care program orientation.
Step 2: Complete
and submit an application.
Step 3: Attend
foster parent training classes sponsored by
the county departments, private child placement
agency, or the State of Colorado.
Step 4: Participate
in a comprehensive foster family assessment.
Once you successfully
complete these steps, you may be certified to
foster a child.
Step
1: Orientation
You will attend an orientation
about fostering at the county department or
private child placement agency where you choose
to pursue the family foster care certification
process along with other prospective foster
parents where you'll learn:
- What foster care means
and what your role and responsibilities
as a parent will be.
- About the children who are
placed in out-of-home care, their backgrounds
and their ages.
- What the certification process
involves, such as the application form,
the required training classes and the foster
family assessment.
- How the child’s caseworker
and the foster care resource caseworkers
will work with and support you and your
family.
- The legal procedures and
the assistance and resources available to
foster parents.
- About permanency, concurrent
planning, and situations where children
may be placed in the foster home for foster
care and later becomes legally free for
adoption.
Step
2: The Application
The Colorado Department of
Human Services Application To Care For Children
doesn't take long to complete, and is free.
The county department or private child placement
agency where you choose to pursue the family
foster care certification will provide you with
an application.
Every applicant
will have a Colorado and national background
check for prior criminal and child abuse records.
Step
3: Training Classes
Foster parents are required
to attend training classes as part of the certification
process. The classes are taught by experienced
child welfare professionals. In addition to
helping to prepare you. and your family, the
training covers issues including, legal processes
and issues, child growth and development, discipline,
parenting and family dynamics, the importance
of the team approach, working with the birth
family, individual differences, as well as the
challenges and the rewards of fostering.
Step
4: Family Assessment
A foster family assessment
– also called a "home study"
– is the process that helps us find appropriate
families for the children who are temporarily
in out-of-home care. Information is gathered
through individual and joint interviews with
a caseworker or another professional who will
visit your home.
Here are some of
the areas covered in the family assessment:
- Social history, background,
personal characteristics, and values
- Problem solving and communication
skills
- Parenting skills and family
preparation
- Children and other people
living in the home
- Family relationships and
family support network
- Physical and social environment
Once your foster
family assessment is approved, you may be eligible
to have a child placed in your home for foster
care. |
Qualifications
