By Rachel Fulginiti
Each month a recurring question surfaces, both in the online communities I’m part of, as well as in my own emails, DMs and text threads. It goes something like this:
I’m interested (or I have a friend who is interested) in fostering. Could you give me an idea of where to begin and how to go about it?
I know this question well because I was once the person desperately asking it. Back then, online support and special interest groups weren’t really a “thing” yet and I didn’t know anyone who had been involved with foster care. I tried researching myself via the internet, but I couldn’t get a straightforward answer. I just wanted some clear steps.
Eventually, I stumbled across the phone number for a local foster family agency (FFA) and although I didn’t even know what that meant yet, I sat on the floor of our spare room with tears in my eyes and dialed.
“Hello, this is Dennis,” a friendly man answered.
With no introduction, I blurted, “I’ve been searching and searching to figure out how to do foster care. I’m a college graduate – I know it shouldn’t be this hard, but I’m mystified. Could you help me?”
Dennis paused, obviously confused himself.
“Are you calling because you want to become certified?”
“Yes, no, maybe? I’m not sure! I just want to know … how does someone go about it? Like, just in general – could you explain the process to me?”
Dennis took a deep breath and answered kindly. He explained that there were two routes to becoming certified. I could work directly with the county, or I could use a foster family agency to help guide us through the process.
“Which are you?” I sniffed.
“We’re an agency.”
“And … which do you recommend?”
He said either route was valid, but that working with an agency might provide more personalized support, as county workers are often stretched thin. He added with a chuckle that he might be biased since,19 years earlier, he’d made a similar phone call to this same organization.
“I got certified and a few weeks later I brought home the infant who would become my son.” ”
This statement was like a beacon.“You adopted a baby through foster care?” I sniffed.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “Then I loved the organization so much that I started working for them.”
That was enough for me. My husband and I attended the orientation he suggested, got certified, and began a process that would span nearly a decade before officially adopting our two children into our forever family.
What follows is a general overview of how to become certified to foster. Keep in mind that the details will vary depending on where you reside, but the basic steps are as follows: Attend an orientation, complete the pre-requisite classes, undergo a home study, pass a background check, a health screening and complete all other state-specific requirements. Below, I break down each step in more detail.
Attend an orientation
This is a crucial first step. An orientation will provide a broad overview of the foster care system, introducing you to the process and how it works. This meeting is designed to educate you on the purpose and goal of foster care (reunification with the biological family) and to answer any initial questions you might have. The meeting typically spans a few hours and is either given by the county itself or a foster family agency.
Which one to choose? There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
As Dennis explained, going through an agency will often give you more support throughout your journey, as many county workers are overtaxed and over-extended and will be unable to give you much personal or direct support. Your FFA social worker can also sometimes serve as a buffer between yourself and the county, seeking out information and answering questions that might otherwise go unanswered.
A slight drawback to going through an independent agency is that you’ll have “double” the appointments throughout the tenure of your fostering commitment, as you’ll be required to meet regularly with your representative there as well as your assigned county social worker.
This is not to say that going through an agency is always the “better” choice. I’ve heard anecdotally that, especially in smaller communities, going through the county can be just fine. If available, I’d recommend taking an orientation at both an agency in your area as well as directly from the county to get a sense of each. Then trust your gut.
Required Classes
Becoming certified to foster begins with a series of pre-requisite classes. In these classes, they will go into more depth about your role as a resource parent and about the special needs of youth in the system. They cover topics such as trauma-informed care, health and safety, child development, special needs, substance exposure and being a mandated reporter. The classes usually meet once or twice per week for between 5-8 weeks, comprising about 20-30 hours in total of pre-licensing training, depending upon your state’s requirements. These classes are just the beginning of your on-going education, as all foster parents are required to complete a certain number of hours per quarter to keep their certification active and in good status.
The Home Study
A home study is a comprehensive examination of your life, history and background, as well as the physical space in which you reside to assess your ability to provide a safe and nurturing home for children. It consists of several parts: a home inspection, background check, health screening and a series of in-depth interviews with all the people living in the home. It also encompasses making sure any animals living in the home are safe, licensed and up-to-date on their shots.
Typically, there is little to no cost for a home study through a public agency. A home study completed by a private agency will usually incur a small fee, somewhere between $700-$3,000, typically offered on a sliding scale depending on your income and often reimbursable.
The entity certifying you should provide you with a list of all requirements for your physical home prior to inspection. This list will include more obvious things such as having a lockable gate around a pool, working fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, as well as less common things such as having a lock box for medications, keeping knives and alcohol out of reach and covering all electrical outlets. Each state will have slightly different requirements. If you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask. If something has been overlooked or is assessed as unsatisfactory, they will usually give you time to correct the issue and then return to complete the inspection.
About bedrooms: It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does need to be functional. Again, every state may vary, but each child should have their own bed in a space that is free from hazards and in good repair. Other requirement examples might include having a bedroom with a door that closes and locks, storage space for their personal belongings and rules for children sharing rooms. There will be specific requirements based on the age of the child you welcome into your home. For instance, in California, children up to 2 years old were allowed to stay in the parents’ bedroom, but beyond age 2 they required a room with a door. Be sure to review the guidelines for your specific state.
The interview portion of the home study consists of a series of one-on-one meetings with a social worker to assess a potential family’s readiness to care for a child. It covers things like your understanding of the foster care system, your role within it and your motivation for wanting to be a part of it. It also covers your parenting style, any significant relationships, your hobbies and interests, and your past. You will be asked about things such as your mental health history, any current or past alcohol and/or substance use or abuse as well as any past traumas and how you handled them.
It’s crucial that you are completely honest and forthright during these interviews. Keep in mind they aren’t looking for perfection, but rather preparedness, resiliency and your ability to handle stress, challenges and unpredictability. Be sure to be honest, not only with them but with yourself, about what you can handle and what you cannot. For example, you’ll want to think seriously about the ages, races and trauma exposure of the children you’re willing to open your home to. Some things to consider: Would you be willing to care for a sibling set? A medically fragile child or a child with other special needs? Could you support a child that is of a different race/ethnicity/cultural background and how would you go about doing that?
Other requirements
Depending upon where you reside, there will be a list of many other requirements including, but not limited to, an FBI Livescan, submission of car insurance, car inspection and your complete driving record, completion of a health screening, a first-aid course and CPR certification. This can all be a little overwhelming at first.
My advice? Take it one step at a time. Keep a printed list and check things off as you go, keeping everything in one place. None of this is necessarily “difficult” but it’ll take some time and effort to gather and get it all done. Keep breathing and try not to get frustrated. You’ll get there.
Once you’ve completed all these steps, you’ll be officially certified and able to begin accepting children into your home immediately. This comprehensive process is just the first leg of what will be a life-changing journey. Celebrate the victory and move forward with an open heart and mind, knowing you’re going to make a difference in someone’s life.
10 TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED WITH FOSTER CARE
- Get clear on what you’re capable of. Do some journaling or other processing and dig deep. Decide what ages, ethnicities and exposures would work best for your life right now and be sure you have access to the resources you need to adequately care for the child you welcome into your home. Understand the constraints of your time, energy, and living situation.
- Make space in your life. Bringing a child into your life is going to change it in dramatic ways. Clear out old relationships, places and things that no longer resonate or serve. Making room, both physically and energetically, for new responsibilities and time commitments will serve your new lifestyle well.
- Engage support. Share what you’re doing with the safe and helpful people in your life. Ask for what you need. If you don’t know what you need yet, that’s OK. Ask for emotional support and open the door to future conversations for help.
- Have self-care in place. Decide what things are non-negotiable for you (examples: weekly exercise, therapy, meditation or quiet time) and put a plan in place now, so that you’re not scrambling when things get busy.
- Gather the things you might need. Before reaching into your own pocket, reach out on social media, parent or fostering groups for free or low-cost items. Ask friends and search for “foster closets” in your area. Engage your church or other communities in sourcing items for you.
- Get organized. There will be lots of important paperwork. Do yourself a favor and get a binder to keep it all in one place. Include extras of blank forms, such as the medical forms you’ll need to bring with you to each and every doctor’s appointment.
- Start building community. Ask for introductions to others who have walked (or are walking) this path. Listen to podcasts such as SafeCampAudio and , join or follow foster care pages online and seek out support groups. It’s incredibly helpful to have folks in your life with lived experience, who “get it.”
- If applicable, discuss what’s about to happen with your employer. Let them know what you’re doing. Inquire about possibly working part-time from home, and/or accommodating any potential last minute schedule changes.
- Begin a “life book” for each child that enters your home. A life book is like a scrap book, composed of pictures and other keepsakes that the child can take with them should they be reunified or moved from your home. Having this keepsake, regardless of how long they are in your care, will help remind them of their own history and of the safe people and experiences they traversed during their time with you. You can start with a picture of you and anyone else living in your home (labeled with names), as well as a picture of your actual residence.
- Prepare yourself for a long and twisty road. In foster care, nothing is certain and things can change on a dime. Practice staying in the present moment. Meditation and yoga can be excellent tools for this. Gear up for the long haul and remind yourself why you decided to do this.
An advocate for foster care and adoption, Rachel Fulginiti is a two-time foster-to-adopt mom. As the creator/host of the From Foster to Forever podcast, Fulginiti shares heartfelt, real-life experiences of families formed through the foster care system. A dynamic multi-hyphenate, she is also an award-winning audiobook narrator, voice actor, singer and writer. She is currently working on her memoir, a compelling account of her unexpected path to motherhood. For more information visit https://www.fromfoster2forever.com/