National Youth Advocate Program - Georgia

Foster Parenting and Foster Care

Foster Care is a service for children who live away from their guardian usually for a short period of time.  Children who need foster care come from all backgrounds.  They’re of every age, race, and religion.  Some have brothers and sisters who need foster care as well.  They all have different likes and dislikes, talents and skills.  A child may be placed in foster care when a parent or guardian is found unable to provide adequate care due to illness, death, neglect, abuse or abandonment.  Some children are placed when special care is needed for treatment of serious mental, emotional or physical handicaps.

What do foster parents do?

• Provide the basic food, clothing, shelter, love and care necessary for positive growth and development of children.
• Encourage positive relationships between the child and his or her natural parents.
• Protect the child from harmful situations that could threaten a child’s health and safety.
• Help the child grow through educational, cultural and social experiences.
• Work as part of a team that includes the agency responsible for the child, various service providers in the community and whenever possible, the youth’s parents.
• Participate in parent training workshops, which address the needs of children.
  Prepare the child to return home, to live with relatives, or to be adopted if a return home is not possible.

Rewards of Becoming a Foster Parent
There are many rewards which you can expect from becoming a foster parent, some of which include:

• Love that may be returned to you now and in the future from the children you have helped.
• A sense of satisfaction, knowing that you played a major role in helping children and families in need.
• A feeling of pride in your abilities as a parent.  Good parenting is a matter of skill—not luck.  Good parents are role models, counselors, decision-makers and much more.
• Developing bonds with foster parents and others in your community to help provide children with services they need.

Who can become a foster parent?
 
Foster parents must meet the following criteria, at a minimum:

• Be at least 21 years old and in good health.
• Have a regular income, SSI and Pubic Assistance recipients are welcome.
• Family members over 18 years of age must be fingerprinted.
• Married, widowed, divorced or single.
• Flexible and have a strong interest in providing love and guidance for children.
• Have room in your heart and home for children.

How long would a child remain in my care?

Foster care is a temporary care situation.  A plan is made for each child to return home as soon as possible, to be adopted or to be released under independent living arrangements.

Can foster parents adopt a child in their care?

When a child’s plan is adoption, the foster parents who have cared for him/her at least 12 months are given first priority.

How does NYAP help with the care of the children?

• Foster parents receive a monthly check to cover the child’s living costs.
• The agency arranges for medical/mental health services for children.
• Foster parents attend parent training workshops to help understand the special needs of children.
• Each child’s treatment coordinator visits regularly and offers help planning for the ongoing needs of the child.
• We're here to support our foster parents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through our Centralized Service Reception team at:

1-877-NYAP-CAN (1-877-692-7226)