What Is A Foster Parent?

A foster parent is a person who provides all things any parent should give a child such as shelter, food, clothing, medical care; nurturing and positive discipline. Foster parents serve as a substitute caregiver when children cannot live with their parents. Foster parents come from all backgrounds, occupations, and lifestyles, ensuring a child's connection to kin, community, and culture. They are people that live in your neighborhood. They are people you see every day.

Successful Foster Parents have similar characteristics such as:

• Empathetic to children and their birth family
• Devoted to the well-being of others
• Demonstrate a genuine interest in the child's life
• Resourceful when dealing with challenges
• Flexible schedule and day-to-day life
• Able to handle uncertainty regarding a child's case
• General satisfaction in life
• Able to bounce back from setbacks

"Caring for the foster children requires a lot of love, patience, and structure. This is what we use with our foster children. We have had really good success."
- Youthville Foster Parent

You may be surprised to discover foster parents all around you. It's your neighbor down the street, the teacher at school, the young couple without any children, the couple whose children have left for college, the family with 2 or 3 children of their own, the single woman or man from your church and it could be you!

Foster parents may be single or married, must be 21 or older, in good general physical and mental health, financially able to provide for their own families, own or rent a house or an apartment that can meet licensing requirements, and be able to pass KBI/CANIS Child Abuse background checks.

Get Involved

If you're interested in becoming a foster parent: Click here for more information or call 800.593.1950, ext. 8118.