Foster parents are considered part of a professional team, along with Clermont County Children’s Services staff, who work together for the benefit of children.
Foster care, by definition, is temporary care provided to children. Children are removed from their homes when they are abused, neglected or dependent and their parents are unable to care for them safely. If a relative is not available or identified, children are placed on a temporary basis with foster parents in the least restrictive placement possible; typically in their own community.
Foster parents are asked, when appropriate, to work with biological families to assist with reunification. When reunification is not possible or in the best interest of the children, the agency secures an adoptive home. The foster family oftentimes then becomes the adoptive family.
The Need
Foster parents care for children of all ages, but there is a particular need for foster parents to care for:
- Newborns and toddlers
- Sibling groups (brothers and sisters who should remain together)
- Teenagers (age 12+)
Are you called to be a foster parent?
Being a foster parent is one of the most rewarding investments a family can make. Your family interests and hobbies coupled with the training you receive will well equip you for the task at hand. Children grow best in families. As a foster parent, you can help a child reach his or her full potential.
A family’s ability to accept the circumstances that necessitated placement and provide the stability, nurturance and love that children need is paramount for successful foster parenting. You must also be able to prepare your family for the grief and loss that may come along with children leaving your home when they reunify with their birth family.
Questions to Consider
- Do I genuinely like and enjoy being around children?
- Am I capable of setting different expectations for different children?
- Can I be flexible and accepting, even when I do not understand the situation?
- Can I love a child as if he or she were my own, let that child go, then open my heart to the next hurting child?
- Are my own children ready to share me with another child whose needs may far exceed their own?
- Am I comfortable opening my home to other professionals on a regular basis?
- Am I a team player?
- What is my motivation behind my desire to be a foster parent?
Download our Foster Care Policies and Strategies. (1.45 MB PDF)