Foster Parenting
Foster Parenting
Its much
more rewarding than you think!
Welcome to
foster parenting. It is one of the most important jobs in our society.
Foster parents provide a home environment that is not only safe and
secure, but one that promotes emotional, physical and spiritual growth.
Who
are foster parents?
Foster parents are trained, licensed adults who:
Own or rent their own home or apartment
Are single or married
Have children, adult children, are without children or just beginning
a family
What
do foster parents do?
Help children whom the courts have removed from their homes and are in
need of love and care
Nurture the child and provide for their basic physical needs
Give kids the opportunity to stay in familiar environments such as
their schools and communities
Offer supervision, instruction and encouragement
Act as positive role models
Foster with the intention of being permanent connections for children
throughout their lives
In certain circumstances, foster parents adopt
Whats
involved in becoming a foster parent?
To become a foster parent, you have to be screened, trained and
licensed. In Indiana, the three types of foster parenting licenses
available are standard, special needs and therapeutic. N.O.A.H., Inc.
offers the following licenses;
Standard
Therapeutic
While each license requires specific types of training, they all share
the same basic screening requirements:
1) Orientation
to inform you as to what is required of foster parents. N.O.A.H., Inc.
holds foster parent orientation twice monthly.
2) A criminal background check, CPS check and BMV check;
3) A home assessment to ensure that your residence meets the space and
safety requirements to accommodate foster children;
4) A physical and/or psychological evaluation as necessary.
If you are
married or living with a partner, you both must attend orientation,
training and licensing processes.
Who are the children under the guidance of foster parents?
They are children who are separated from their families due to concerns
about their safety, well-being and health or due to other circumstances.
They include:
Children with medical needs, emotional challenges and developmental or
physical delays or disabilities
Children in need of emergency or respite care
Children in need of help with social skills, academics or self-esteem
Children from various ethnic, religious and/or cultural backgrounds
Teenagers in need of adult mentors and role models
Siblings who need to stay together
How
long does it take to become licensed?
The length of the training is based on the type of license, but the
entire process usually takes approximately one to three months.
Who
does the licensing?
Foster care licenses are the responsibility of the State of Indiana, but
they are issued through each countys Office of Family & Children or
through private agencies such as N.O.A.H., Inc.
What are the benefits of foster parenting?
There are a wide range of benefits to foster parenting. These benefits
span from touching individual lives to cost effectiveness. Other
benefits include:
Personal and professional growth
Formal training and support
Improved parenting skills
Foster parent support groups
Financial reimbursement
Respite care when needed
A sense of helping families, children and others toward health and
wholeness
Foster
parenting saves communities the money that it would spend housing
children in institutions for indefinite periods of time or incarcerating
them in juvenile detention centers and prisons. Foster parenting reduces
of school truancies, dropout rates, gang activity and crime rates.
Foster parents are extraordinary people.
Is
foster parenting a paid position?
In Indiana, foster parents are reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses on
a daily basis. That amount is limited, with a cap on the maximum you can
receive. Per diem rates vary according to the county in which you live
and the agency through which you foster. Some agencies also offer other
means to support the costs of foster parenting.
Get Licensed in Foster Parenting:
Standard, special needs and therapeutic licenses are the three types of
licenses available to foster parents. N.O.A.H., Inc. offers both
standard & therapeutic licenses.
1 Standard
Foster Care License
This type of license is issued to foster parents who care for children
other than those with medical, developmental, mental or emotional
concerns.
It requires applicants to complete 20 hours of pre-service training, in
addition to first aid, CPR and universal precautions courses. After
receiving this type of license, foster parents are required to attend 10
hours of service training each year to keep their license current.
2 Therapeutic
Foster Care License
This type of license is issued to foster parents who provide care to
severely emotionally disturbed or developmentally disabled children,
with the help of qualified N.O.A.H. staff members, case managers and
counselors.
It requires applicants to complete 30 hours of
pre-service training, which includes 20 hours of standard training and
10 hours of therapeutic foster care training, in addition to first aid,
CPR and universal precautions training. To maintain a therapeutic
license, foster parents must complete a minimum of 20 hours of
in-service training each year, half of which must be related to
therapeutic foster care.
Each type of
foster care license comes with its own restrictions and regulations,
contact N.O.A.H., Inc. for more information.
Preparing Your Family for Foster Parenting:
Before
children are placed in your care, you and your family must begin
preparing for the introduction of foster children into your home. This
preparation process helps an agencys staff learn about you and your
family and increases your understanding of foster care. It also aids in
preparing you to care for children whose backgrounds and experiences may
be different from your own.
The true
preparation evaluation process begins after youve completed your
training and is used to verify your personal information and the
backgrounds of everyone living in your house. Included in this
evaluation are requests for copies of each persons birth certificates;
criminal background checks on all adults living in the house; copies of
marriage licenses or divorce decrees; records of child or spousal abuse
allegations, or charges and any subsequent legal actions; copies of
adoption decrees; income verification; physical and mental health
records; and other information upon request.
As stated
earlier, this information will not only help N.O.A.H.s staff get to
know you, but it will also determine the type of children with which you
and your family would be most comfortable. This process enables
N.O.A.H., Inc. to find the best fit between foster parent and child.
Lastly, you will also develop a better understanding as to your
responsibilities as a foster parent.
If interested in learning more about foster
parenting, or becoming a foster or adoptive parent, contact N.O.A.H.,
Inc. by telephone at 1-866-816-4462 or by e-mail at
friendsofnoah@noahkids.org
Why Select N.O.A.H. As Your Foster Care Provider?
We understand foster care
Develops services in accordance with the needs of the family and
child;
Services are strength-based and family focused;
Works closely with the referring worker, family and a community of
ministers;
Developed a network of service providers entitled N.O.A.H.s Family
Network (N.F.N.);
Provides individual group therapy and counseling;
Provides foster child, birth family and foster family support groups;
Provides independent living services.
We are
accessible
Provides referrals and emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a
week;
Easily accessible to the community;
Provides a coordination of services that utilize community resources;
Provides onsite consultations, treatments and supervised visitations.
We understand
professional, flexible and cost-effective service
Provides high quality, cost-efficient programs and services;
Provides measurable performance outcome services ;
Affiliated with national and state professional organizations.
Utilizes a three tier auditing system (peer, administrative, external)
to ensure consistency and quality control;
Consults with an advisory board composed of professionals with
experience in providing social services;
The Founder and President is the author of Indiana Foster Family
Handbook, the first guide instructing foster parents on substitute care
in the state of Indiana.
