Course / The Foster Care Process
The process of becoming a foster parent varies from state to state (and sometimes county to county), but it generally includes three main stages: training, screening, and matching.
To begin, prospective foster parents contact a local or state agency—such as the Administration for Children’s Services—to register and attend an orientation session (usually 2–3 hours). This session explains what fostering involves, who it’s best suited for, and what the next steps look like.
If you decide to move forward, you’ll complete a certification program (often 30 hours or more). These training sessions help you explore your strengths, identify areas for growth, and understand your rights and responsibilities as a foster parent.
This process typically takes a few months to finish.
After—or sometimes alongside—training, the state will conduct a thorough home study and background check to ensure you’re ready to foster. The goal isn’t perfection, but rather that you’re physically, financially, and emotionally capable of caring for a child.
This stage can take several months and involves organization and paperwork: scheduling appointments, gathering documents, and completing various verifications.
Key requirements include:
A doctor’s statement confirming you’re healthy enough to care for a child.
Fingerprinting and background checks for all adults in the household.
Proof of financial stability, such as tax records or bank statements.
During the home study, a social worker will visit your home to get to know you, observe your living space, and discuss your daily life. Your home must meet local safety, zoning, and fire codes—it doesn’t need to be spotless, but it should be clean, safe, and well-maintained.
Requirements for bedrooms and sleeping arrangements vary by state, but the central goal is to confirm you can provide a secure and stable environment.
While social workers follow specific assessment guidelines, some degree of subjectivity remains. Encouragingly, reports of discrimination based on marital status or sexual orientation have significantly declined in recent years.
Once you’re approved, you’ll share your preferences—such as number of children, gender, age range (infant through 21), race, heritage, or any special needs.
However, you may receive placement calls that don’t perfectly match your preferences. The state often prioritizes finding immediate, safe homes for children in need.
You’ll receive more detailed information about a child the longer they’ve been in care—such as their personality, habits, and interests. For children just entering the system, information may be limited.
Ideally, there’s a transition period with a few visits before placement, allowing both you and the child to get acquainted. In practice, though, placements often happen the same day, with little notice.
If you’re hoping to eventually adopt, you can express interest in children whose birth parents’ rights have been terminated.
For most children, entering foster care is sudden and traumatic. They’re often removed from unsafe homes with little to no warning, leaving behind everything familiar.
They’re placed under the care of overburdened agencies doing their best to assess needs and find a suitable placement quickly. Children have no control over where they go and are frequently separated from siblings, the only consistent support they’ve ever known.
While some children remain in one foster home, many experience multiple placements, each one deepening feelings of loss and rejection.
As a result, when arriving at a new home, children may feel hopeful yet wary—balancing curiosity with fear or despair.
What they need most is a caregiver who will listen first, set boundaries with empathy, and love them as their own.
Our job is to listen, to connect the dots between your needs, and to determine how we can best help you have your baby. If you’re asking how much does it cost for a surrogate, we’ll walk you through every step of the process to ensure there are no surprises.
To make an appointment with one of our counselors or physicians, please call (212) 661-7673 or email info@surrogacy4all.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
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