How does foster care work?

Perhaps a better question is, “How can foster care work?”

But first, here’s what the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania says. 

Every child deserves a loving, nurturing permanent home, where they feel cared for, safe and supported. Foster care provides temporary care with foster parents for children who are unable to remain in their own homes and are placed in the custody of the county Children and Youth agency by the courts.

Both public and private foster care agencies as well as the Pennsylvania State Resource Family Association recruit foster parents to provide these services for children. Each foster care agency accepts applications from individuals interested in becoming foster parents. There are minimum requirements that must be met by all applicants:

• Be at least 21 years of age.

• Pass a medical examination that states the individual is physically able to care for children and is free from communicable disease.

• Pass screening requirements related to child abuse and criminal history clearances. *

When it is determined that children need to be placed in foster care by Children and Youth Services (CYS), the step-by-step process usually goes something like this:

• CYS sends requests for foster care to agencies in the area where the child lives. 
• The agencies contact families on their list of approved families who might be a good fit. 
• Their names are submitted to CYS. 
• CYS choses the family from all the submissions from responding agencies.
• Arrangements are made immediately to place the children in care.
• Families of the children in foster care are given a plan of what must be accomplished before their children can be reunified with them. If that plan is not met in the timeframe laid out, then other permanent arrangement, such as adoption, may be sought for the children.

Those are the nuts and bolts of how foster care works. State and county Human Services are government organizations. There is and must be regulations and minimum requirements for care. But that doesn’t mean that is the best care available, it is just the bottom threshold.

COBYS believes foster care can and should be more than the bare minimum. Yes, we perform all the required processes and procedures when children are placed in our care. But we go beyond that. 

• To start, our staff and foster families are provided evidence-based trauma training, equipping them with the tools they need to care for children with trauma (which is every child in foster care.) 
• COBYS staff also have maximum caseloads so they are never overwhelmed by shear volume, meaning they can spend more time and pay more attention to each case they oversee. The extra time allows for deeper relationships and understanding of the needs of all parties. 
• Our services are delivered with compassion, dignity and hope. We walk beside the foster children and the foster families on their journey. 

By definition foster care is a government service, program and process. But it is also a calling to aid children and families who are struggling and need help. The staff at COBYS believe that when provided the right way, foster care can provide a life altering change to those involved.

*Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, https://www.dhs.pa.gov/Services/Children/Pages/Foster-Care-PA.aspx