If you’ve never fostered a child before, you may be uncertain where to begin. Maybe you have reservations about what you think would be a long and complicated process, but applying to be a foster parent shouldn’t be stressful – and won’t be when you start the ball rolling and when you can look forward to helping a child in need and providing a healthy home environment.
How to Apply to Be a Foster Parent
Step 1: Make Sure You’re Ready and Don’t Rush into It
The first key step is on your end. You might know that you want to foster at some point, but right now – if you have other life or work commitments – might not be the best time. To give yourself the best chance of being successful, make sure that this time in your life is the right time.
Step 2: Find a Foster Care Service
You’ll need to find a service that is both local to you and that you can depend on. Do your research into the best foster care services around, and be sure to look into how many years of experience they have and the service they offer. Finding the right foster care service is just as important as the right fit for you and a foster child. That’s why it’s important to look into dedicated services that have a ton of experience, like Orange Grove Foster Care.
Step 3: Reach Out and Plan a Home Visit
You can register an initial inquiry with your chosen service and take it at your own pace. You can have a friendly chat just to get a better idea of the situation, and once you’re ready to go forward, a home visit will need to be arranged. This is for the foster care service to understand your home environment and living situation better, but it’s also the key opportunity to go through the official details and discuss everything.
Step 4: Application and Assessment
Once you’re ready to go ahead, you can submit an application form. Following a successful application, a social worker should then be assigned to you for an extremely thorough assessment. This will include a number of further home visits, gathering background checks and references, and an investigation into your health, finances, and lifestyle – all to make sure you’d make a great foster parent. This step can be lengthy and may take at least a few months.
Step 5: Speak with a Fostering Panel
As a final step, your overall application and the results of the assessment will need to be discussed and finalised by a fostering panel made up of experienced professionals in the foster care sector. This is also the panel’s opportunity to speak with you and ask any further questions, which will allow them to better understand your suitability for fostering and whether they will recommend you to become one. If they deem you suitable, you can then move on to being matched with a foster child and prepare to welcome them into your home.