HOW TO BECOME A FOSTER PARENT

How to Become A Foster Parent

Become a Foster Parent Today!
Serving Fayetteville, Raleigh, Durham, Wilmington, Greensboro, NC & the Surrounding Areas


“Every child has a right to be a member of a healthy and supportive family.”


According to the North Carolina Department of Social Services, to be eligible as a foster parent, you must meet the following criteria:

 

  • Over 21 years old
  • Have a stable, drug-free home environment
  • Have steady employment
  • Undergo a criminal background check and give fingerprints
  • Provide references
  • Be trained and licensed as a foster parent by the state

 

Unfortunately, in the past few years, the number of children in need of foster care has risen, due to state unemployment rates, poverty, and the growing opioid crisis. Now more than ever, children and teens alike need loving, caring homes where they can feel supported and grow to the best of their ability. You could be the difference in one child's life. There are a number of reasons that families find a calling to become foster parents, and regardless of that reason, always find that growing their family with a foster child is enriching and beneficial to their life.

Become A Foster Parent in Greensboro, NC
Foster parents with foster child | Become a foster parent | Fayetteville, NC

Why Become a Foster Parent?

  • You Care About Children & Want to Help Them: Children that are in the foster care system may have been neglected, abused, or abandoned. These children need love and care just like everyone else. To become a foster parent means that you are helping and loving the foster children in ways that will help them grow and have a brighter future.
  • Provide Safe & Welcoming Home: If you have a safe, comfortable, and welcoming home available and the time to raise and nurture a foster child, you are a great candidate for foster parenting. Providing the basic needs to a foster child means more to them than you may think it does.
  • Make Positive Impact in Your Community: In every city or town across the country, there is a need for foster parents. Choosing to become a foster parent is not on the same level as deciding what you want to eat for dinner, so although it demands serious thought and consideration, it is also a great way to make a positive impact in your community. By giving a child in need a safe, comfortable, and nurturing home, you are actively helping the fight against homelessness, school dropout rates, poverty, and more.

7 Tips for Becoming a Great Foster Parent

  1. The first and most important rule to becoming a great foster parent/family is to remember that these children need a temporary home
  2. It’s never about money, it is about offering a child in need a safe haven. 
  3. Expect it to be hard, it is often a great challenge to love unconditionally but temporarily. The child will often not make it easy on you either.
  4. Love the child as your own, foster children need to be loved and accepted more than anyone. 
  5. Present your child as your child, the child needs to feel accepted and part of the family. Don’t introduce them as your foster child or newest addition.
  6. Don’t judge, the child, his/her upbringing or the biological parents. 
  7. Don’t think of yourself as a savior, think of yourself as a safe and loving haven along the way.
You Can Make a Difference in a Child's Life Today

When you become a foster parent, you should also know that foster children will receive Medicaid and WIC (as age appropriate) and that daycare assistance may be available, too. Other types of government aid will be explained to you during your foster parent training.


Foster parents assist in providing a safe and stable environment while the child is in foster care. Thank you for considering helping a child in need in the Fayetteville, Raleigh, Durham, Wilmington, and Greensboro, NC areas. Please get in touch with us if you would like to become a foster parent, or have any questions or concerns about the foster to adopt process.

Share by: