How to Run a Short-Term Care Foster Home

Short-term care foster homes lodge children temporarily while agencies look for a stable long-term solution. If you want to run this type of home, you need certification and skills to provide a solid support structure for children with special needs.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Submit your information to state authorities so they can conduct a detailed examination of your criminal, financial and social background. Depending on your state's policies, your biological children may also have to take part in this evaluation if they are over a certain age.
2. Contact local foster agencies and fill out an application to run a short-term foster care home. Specify what kinds of children you'd be willing to host, such as those with mental or physical disabilities, those with a history of domestic abuse or those with chronic illnesses. State whether there are any situations or types of children that you are not willing to work with, but remember these choices may jeopardize your chances for hosting children.
3. Set up a private bedroom for the short-term foster children. If you want to host more than one child, you can lodge them in the same room, but remember to watch for conflicts between the children and avoid large differences in their ages.
4. Provide social support to the foster children by involving them in your families activities. Sign the child up for the local school system and provide transportation if there is no bus route near you. Help the child find after-school activities to make friends and develop different skills.
5. Stay in contact with the foster agency and allow them to visit the children with potential foster families. Inform these families of any behavioral issues that you've had with the children and explain how you've dealt with them. Keep a record of these problems in case the state or agency has to intervene.
6. Consider becoming a long-term foster family if one of the children fits in well with your family and cannot go back to their biological parents. Realize that your foster family certification doesn't automatically allow you to adopt. You will still need to go through that process with the agency.

Tips & Warnings

• Some foster families run a short-term care home that is open 24 hours a day, but you need to detail your hours of availability to enroll in this type of program.
• Don't hesitate to contact the foster agency if issues with the children arise and you cannot rectify them yourself.