April 18, 2021

Is Your Heart Calling You to Foster Care? What You Need to Know

Adoption & Surrogacy

For some, foster care is a calling. It is a way to serve children and your community and make a direct impact on people’s lives, while also providing the opportunity to help a particular child or children in a multitude of ways.

Have you had a calling for foster care, but don’t know where to start? Follow along as I walk you through the various types of foster care, as well as other ways you can have a lasting impact on the life of a child.

Often, foster care will lead to brief moments of peace for children who have just been removed from their home. Others provide a loving home while the children adjust to their current circumstances, allowing their family to strengthen. And for some, their foster care placement ends in adoption. Through fostering, biological parents are given the opportunity for mentorship, to maintain or enhance the family bond, and support as they work toward a goal of reintegration.

There are four types of foster care:

Respite Care
Short-term Care
Long-term Care,
Emergency Placement.

There is also the option of adoption through foster care.

Respite Care

Respite Care provides a break for foster care placements. This may include requests for a long-day so the foster parent can run kid-free errands or attend a family event, a long weekend for self-care, or a week-long stay. Many times, foster parents or grandparents who are providing respite care have no approved resource to assist them or give them a break. This is a much-needed resource for those families. This has been especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Short-term Care

Short-term care provides a foster home for children who are awaiting reintegration as their parents work to complete court orders. They also provide homes for children who are waiting for an adoptive resource. Short-term care is not a foster to adopt situation. This may be a good fit for a family who wants to support and nurture a child through a difficult time in their life, but not commit to a long-term adoption. This also provides an opportunity to mentor and assist the biological family and fostering a relationship with the child.

Long-term Care

Long-term care provides a foster home for children who are awaiting reintegration, but are also open to adoption if the parents fail to achieve reintegration. Long-term care can be a difficult option for some families, as they become very bonded to the children and the outcome is not always adoption. Helping a biological family long-term or becoming life-long extended family to a child are both rewarding and necessary part of foster care. Many foster parents find ways to support and mentor the biological family on their path to reintegration and remain a part of the child’s life.

Emergency Placement

This is foster care placement that is very brief. Placement occurs when the children are placed in police protective custody. This requires flexibility, as this type of placement comes with no advanced notice or forewarning. When children are placed in police protective custody, they are taken to the Wichita Children’s Home. They are placed in an emergency foster care placement from there, usually within 24 hours. These children remain in the emergency placement until a short-term, long-term or family placement is found.

Adoption from Foster Care

Finally, there are opportunities to adopt from foster care without having first fostered the child. That said, there are still requirements. Many times, this also requires pre-placement visits, adjustment periods, and a waiting period. Foster care adoptions move at a slower pace than private adoptions, but are offered many resources and support. Adoption from foster care also provides the opportunity to adopt a child who has above-average needs or has experienced trauma. A forever home is the most loving gift for a child.

Does one of these options seem like the right fit for your family? Here’s are a few of the requirements:

Pass a KBI and child abuse background check
Be over the age of 21
You must own or rent a home
You must meet the income guidelines allowing you to provide for additional children in your home
You are expected to provide care in safe, loving, and structured environment
You are expected to be emotionally able to handle children who have been abused, neglected or experienced trauma

Foster Care requires specific training and licensing. There are several licensing agencies in Kansas, including, but not limited to: