Restoring Housing Through Foster Care
Last month, we defined what foster care was and how that is the spot where homeless children without adequate parental supervision ended up. We’ve gone through so many of the problems both children and adults face in homeless situations and organizations that help. For the rest of the year, we are going to focus on ways you can help support people in your community facing housing crises.
Biblically, there is a mandate to care for children who are facing both a housing and parent crisis.
“Pure religion is to care for the orphan and the widow…” - James 1:27
One of the ways to help in a housing crisis is by caring for a foster child. There are a number of ways to do that - but, most importantly, you can actually become certified to become a foster parent. This can vary by state to state.
I encourage you to look up foster care in your state and pick an agency that best suits you. The state you live in has a child services where reports of children needing homes are reported. Every state has the ability to do foster care through state child services. This is a route quite a few people use.
There is another route, however. It is called “private child - placing agencies”. They are agencies that specialize in what children their focus is or the type of services they offer. I work at an agency that certifies Christians and offers daycare, therapy, and other services to help the foster family. You can look in your community and see if there are private child placing agencies that fit you or your family well.
Maybe, you are wondering if foster care is a good fit for you as well. There are common misconceptions about what disqualifies you, so I’ll explain the signs that qualify you for foster care. The main requirements are that you don’t have a criminal history, you have a place to live (doesn’t have to be owned), and you have an income. It’s not as complex as many people think to become a foster parent.
Once you’ve decided to pursue fostering, you will typically be invited to an informational session where you will learn more about fostering. After that, you get invited to attend training sessions. Each state has a law for how many training hours you need to become a foster parent. These sessions educate you on things like caring for children with trauma, working with parents of children in foster care, and understanding state rules.
When you have completed your training hours, you go through a process called a “home study”. This is where someone comes to your home 2 - 3 times to walk through a process called “SAFE” with you. They learn about your history, your home, and what kind of child would fit well into your home. There will be a lot of paperwork in this stage - that includes things like birth certificates, insurance forms, and drivers licenses.
Once you have completed the home study process, you are then accepted to be a home for a child that needs a safe place and family to stay with. This process may have been broken down very shortly in this article, but it takes roughly 3 - 6 months to complete. Personally, I recommend doing foster care alongside a private child - placing agency that fits your needs. They have the capacity to offer more support and they also help alleviate the state’s workload, which is always heavy in this realm.
Stay tuned next month for more practical ways you can help in your home with the unhoused!