Purpose

To recruit, train, and license foster homes. These homes work with children who have been removed from their birth families because of abuse and neglect. The foster family, DSS, and the birth family work together to return children to their own home as soon as possible.

Eligibility

Our agency is continually looking for good, nurturing families to provide temporary care for children in foster care.  A good foster parent is someone who copes well with changes, works well with teams, has patience for imperfect behavior and can give without expecting immediate rewards.

The first step to become a licensed foster parent is to contact our Foster Home Licensing Social Worker Valerie Ackerman at (828) 426-8281 or vackerman@caldwellcountync.org.  She will be willing to answer any questions about how to become a foster parent and mail you an information packet and application.  You can also download and print off the application and send it in.

An initial home visit will be scheduled at your family's convenience to discuss any further questions that you may have and to help you determine which type of instruction would best suit your family. 

Caldwell County DSS currently offers traditional Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (MAPP) classes which provide information and the necessary skills to prepare foster parents for a child who has experienced loss. The classes are a requirement to become a foster/adoptive parent and are being offered free of charge.  

The next available MAPP class will begin on Monday, September 15th, from 5:30 -8:30 PM.

Each class will be held at the Caldwell County Department of Social Services (Westgate Plaza) in Lenoir. The classes run every Monday for several weeks and include two Saturday classes. There are 30 hours of training involved in each serier of foster parent (MAPP) classes.

Other requirements to become licensed include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Potential foster parents must complete an application form and a Mutual Home Assessment.
• The family's home must receive and pass a fire and safety inspection from the Fire Marshal and meet building code.
• The family's home must receive and pass an environmental safety check that is conducted by the agency.  If the family has well water, they must receive and pass a water inspection by Environmental Health. 
• All family members must have a physical examination and adults in the family must have a TB skin test.
• All adult family members 18 years and older must be finger-printed in order for criminal records checks to be conducted locally, through the SBI and through the FBI.
• If potential foster parents are a married couple, they must have been married for at least one year.  Single applicants can also be licensed as foster parents.
• To be licensed, foster parents must be at least 21 years old. All adult members of the household must attend training and complete all licensure requirements.
• Foster families need to have adequate income to financially support their own family without relying on the foster child's board payment, as the board payment is designed to cover the essentials of room and board for the foster child.
• The foster home must have a working telephone which functions without use of electrical power.
• The foster family must have access to transportation and be willing and able to provide necessary transportation to meet the needs of the foster child.
• The foster home must provide each child with his/her own bedroom space.
• The foster home must be a drug-free environment and not be receiving any Child Protective Services from the agency.
• The foster family must be willing to conduct Shared Parenting meetings with the child's birth parents and/or other relatives.     
• As a part of MAPP class potential foster parents must also take the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2 (MMPI-2).

The final step is staffing the family's Mutual Home Assessment and presenting their Welcome Book to the agency.   When approved, their initial licensing packet is then mailed to the State office for review and licensure. 

Special Information

Licenses remain good for two years.  Ongoing training and support is offered through scheduled in-service trainings, home visits and child and family team meetings.  For more information and to register for the classes, contact Valerie Ackerman at (828) 426-8281 or vackerman@caldwellcountync.org

Click here to download the Foster Home application in Adobe PDF format.

If you do not have a compatible version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, you may click on the button below and download the program free of charge from Adobe's website: