Foster Care Basics

From Carrie Craft, Your Guide to Adoption. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Thinking about fostering? Thinking about it is an excellent place to begin.

In order to make an informed decision, gather as much information as possible about foster care. Contact your local state agencies. See our Fostering by State pages for contact information. Today fostering is very open. You can be a foster parent whether you are single, gay or lesbian, working, or retired. You also do not have to be rich or own your own home. Reimbursement is provided for daily living and medical expenses and, in some cases, the cost of travel to various appointments.

There are many things to consider before choosing to foster. Check out this check list - Should I be a Foster Parent?.

Ten Surefire Ways to Destroy a Perfectly Good Marriage with Foster Care. Fostering brings a lot of stress into a home. Be prepared and protect your relationships.

How do you go about enrolling a foster child into a new school? Ten Things Needed to Get Ready for Back-to-School - Enrolling Your New Foster Child or Adopted Child for a list of things to do before your foster child starts school.

Once in school how should your child handle bullies or uncomforable questions? Teaching Foster/Adoptive Children How to Respond to Common Questions should help!

So you've decided that being a foster parent is not for you. There are still ways to help - 9 Ways to Help Children in Foster Care.

You've decided to try foster parenting but you're worried about your first few days of placement and meeting the birth family. Read Fostering Connections for ideas on how to handle your first placement.

Need parenting advice? Read the different articles and resources available to you here. This list is added to often.

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