Frequently asked questions from potential foster parents.

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Q: Who are the youth Center For Family Services serves?

A: Center For Family Services serves children and youth ages 1 to 17. They have entered foster care because they are unable to live with their birth families either temporarily or permanently, often because of abuse or neglect. Many are children who have siblings who would be best placed together.

Q: What are the benefits of fostering older youth?

A: Older youth are often self-sufficient with their own interests and activities. They may not be looking for a mom or da, but rather a life coach or a mentor. Families with older youth tend to stay youthful themselves and to grow in new ways.

Q: What kind of foster parents is Center For Family Services looking for?

A: Center For Family Services looks for all types of families who can provide a supportive and stable home environment: single parents, married couples, families of color, empty nesters, home owners, renters, and gay, lesbian, and

bi-sexual parents. Center For Family Services is committed to diversity, anti-racism, and providing culturally appropriate services.

We also look for families who, when appropriate, can offer a permanent home for a youth through adoption or by becoming their legal guardian.

Q: How much contact do youth have with their birth families?

A: Center For Family Services seeks to maintain and, in some cases, to build a positive relationship with birth families. This often brings children and youth a sense of culture, history, and self. Our top priority is to ensure that this contact is safe and we offer support and supervision when necessary.

Q: What do I do to become a foster parent?

A: Center For Family Services takes families through a process that meets both Center For Family Services and state requirements to become a foster parent. This includes a licensing process. In general, this involves getting background checks for all the adults in a household, filling out an application and other paperwork, attending training, having a home check, and completing an assessment process. We also meet with you so you can learn more about fostering and so we can learn more about you and your family. This helps us determine the fit for both child and family.

Q: What kinds of supports and services do I get as a Center For Family Services parents?

A: Center For Family Services offers a wide variety of services and supports to families and youth tailored to meet specific needs including: social work support, 24-hour staff availability, financial reimbursement, training in child development and other related topics, respite (another family takes the child temporarily to give you a break), and life skills services for young adults up to age 21.

Q: We'd like to help a child but are not ready to commit to fostering. Are there other ways to help?

A: Children in foster care need many caring adults in their lives on a consistent basis. Short-term or respite care is one way to get involved by providing care to children for a specified time while foster parents are unavailable or taking a break. It can be as short as a few hours or as long as a few weeks. Other ways to be involved include mentoring, tutoring , providing transportation, or job training.

Q: How do I get more information?

A: Contact the TLC Foster Care Unit at 856-428-5688 extension 205 or e-mail  Kaali Cohen at helpinghands@centerffs.org.