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A foster mom hugs her foster son from behind. He is smiling as he put his hand on the woman's neck.
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Become a Foster Parent and Help Families in Crisis

Help families in your community who are in crisis by becoming a foster parent or supporting foster families in your church.

What Do Foster Parents Do?

Foster care is a temporary solution for troubled homes. The goal of foster care is to reunite birth families. If the department of social services proves to the courts that a child’s welfare is threatened in his or her home situation, the child is placed in a foster care home. The birth family may undergo alcohol or drug rehabilitation, parent training, or counseling to qualify for the child to be returned.

Kids in foster care need the security a good home can provide while their own family gets healthy. “These kids need everyday things most children take for granted,” says Carol White, author of manuals on child abuse issues. “You don’t have to be extraordinary to provide for them. They need three meals a day, a clean bed, parents who come home, shoes, clean clothing, someone who’ll pack their lunch and get them off to school, baths, a story at bedtime.” Diane, a foster mother of twins, remembers, “When the boys first came to me at 7 years old, they had never seen a bathtub before.” Another foster parent remembers a child who thought all children ate out of the dog’s bowl and had beer with their snacks instead of milk.

Besides offering basic care, Christian families can offer castoff children the only experience with Christ many will ever know. Children living in a Christian home see adults work out conflicts without violence. They hear prayers and worship. When children leave Christian foster homes, they may never brush up against a Christian again.

How Can You Become a Foster Parent?

Qualifications

The qualifications for foster parenting vary from state to state. Generally, applicants go through screening that may include a home study, fingerprinting with a background check for any crimes against children, references, a detailed self-study, an interview, and a medical exam.

Placement

Once this screening process is complete, a child could be placed immediately. The foster parent can choose how many children to take; however, each state limits the amount to around four. The foster parent can also choose the age and sex of the children. After each placement, the foster family can take a break and have no children until ready again.

Maintenance

While children are placed in a foster care home, the state will pay a fee for the child’s basic needs. Each child has a caseworker who develops a personalized treatment plan and will visit in the home at least once a month.

How Can You Support Foster Care Parents?

If full-time foster care is not for you, there are other ways to get involved. Perhaps your church could try what has worked for other churches:

Educate church families.

Invite a child welfare worker to your church to speak and answer questions. Include current foster parents. Provide practical information about kids in crisis and what people can do to help. Include foster care information in your family section of the church library. Contact your county’s department of social services for materials. Help dismantle the myths around foster care. Minority and older children aren’t more trouble. Children are very rarely taken from parents on a whim. And even though abuse happens in foster homes, foster parents who give good care and nurture far outnumber abusive ones.

Recruit families.

Look for families who are possible foster homes. Most family styles are good potentials: working couples, retired couples, single adults, couples with children. Ask if they’ve ever considered foster care. Make your approach non-threatening and encouraging.

Embrace foster kids.

Welcome children in foster homes into the church family. Encourage them to get involved in your children’s ministry program. Love them as Christ would and recognize your responsibility to help nurture them.

Give a break.

Weary, struggling foster parents sometimes need “respite care.” Respite caregivers take children for short periods. Or you can give parents a break by giving kids rides to church or school activities. Offer to run errands for tired foster parents. Encourage church members to donate services to foster families; handymen, carpenters, doctors, dentists, therapists, and lawyers can join the foster parent’s team to help troubled children.

Honor foster families.

Include these families in the lighting of Advent candles or other special traditions and ceremonies. Create a Christ-centered ceremony for foster families when they take a new child and also when one leaves.

Provide counseling.

Foster families have unique problems and special needs. By providing support, you can help them get through the difficult times. For counseling referrals or other information, visit the National Foster Parent Association Inc. at nfpaonline.org.

Contribute money.

Although financial compensation covers the basic cost of caring for a foster child, it doesn’t cover any extras. Your church could start a fund to help foster parents with birthday or Christmas presents, school clothing, and art or hobby supplies. “It’s time to stop waiting for them — the government — to solve the problem,” says White. “They’re failing. It’s time for Christians to look to ourselves and our resources — the church. We are a strong community. Inside the community are many people who can keep their perspective, set reasonable goals, and yell for help when they need it. They’re the people who can make a difference.”

Lonni Collins Pratt is a writer and editor in Michigan.

Looking for more outreach ideas? Start here!

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