How to Become a Foster Parent in Atlanta

Foster parents provide love and guidance until a minor can be safely returned to his or her legal guardians.

For some people, the option to enrich their family and open their home through foster parenting is the right choice. Becoming foster parents means taking on the responsibility of parenting minors who have been termporarily removed from their legal guardians. Georgia requires that a foster parent be at least 25 years old, 10 years older than the child and have a valid Georgia driver's license.

Instructions

1. Contact your local Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS). Tell them that you are interested in becoming a foster parent. Ask the DCFS to put you in touch with a Resource and Development representative and inquire about the next scheduled training and orientation session. It may take up to ten days to be scheduled for an orientation meeting.

2. Attend the orientation session which is a one-on-one sit-down with a counselor in order to help you better understand the process of becoming a foster parent. There are several requirements to being approved as a foster parent. These requirements include becoming certified in first aid, CPR and water training safety, holding valid health insurance, undergoing a psychological evaluation and receiving crisis intervention training. The counselor at your orientation will go over all of the details to receive training during the session.

3. Register for IMPACT training with a representative from the Department of Family and Children's Services.

4. Complete IMPACT (Initial Interest, Mutual Selection, Pre-Service Training, Assessment, Continuing Development and Teamwork) training, which consists of 20 sessions lasting one hour each. The trainng was developed to help individuals and their families prepare for foster care giving. Topics in the sessions include behavioral implications in fostering/adopting, communication, emotional effects of foster/adoptive parenting and identity and cultural issues.

5. Allow a case manager to complete the home evaluation process. This process will consist of at least two home visits by a case manager to complete paperwork and evaluate the safety of the home. The case worker will evaluate the home, family and financial ability to take on the task of becoming foster parents. Ask the case manager any questions you have about the process and for information on any available support services.

6. Wait for the DFCS to approve your application for a license to become a foster parent. You'll need patience during this step of the process, as there is no set timetable for final approval of a foster parent license. Take advantage of this time to contact local support resources or register for an elective class to better prepare yourself for the responsibilities involved.

7. Prepare yourself and your family for the challenges of becoming foster parents. Enlist a support group consisting of family, friends and professionals to deal with the mental and physical demands that providing foster care can place on you. Foster care requires a great deal of compassion, understanding and patience. It requires the prospective foster parent to understand that in many cases, the children being placed in care come from very difficult situations and will need help dealing with issues. A foster parent needs to acknowledge the bond that the child has with his or her birth parents and work toward successfully reuniting the family.

References

• Bethany Christian Services: Foster Care
• Adoptive and Foster Parent Association of Georgia: Foster Parent Support: Become a Foster Parent
• Adopt Us Kids: How to Foster and Adopt: Georgia
• GCAC of Georgia: The Most Frequently Asked Questions about Foster Parenting