Kinship and Foster Care

Families are the best way society has found to rear its children. Some children, unfortunately, are born into families who – for whatever reasons – are unable to rear them. Foster Care provides a means for other families, who are committed and able to meet the ongoing needs of these children, to help care for the children while the family sorts out their difficulties. Foster care is a temporary arrangement for children who cannot live safely with their birth family. Parents with children in foster care are legally entitled to services to help them parent their children safely.

The goal of foster care is to have the family reunited and preserved. If a birth parent is still unable to care for their child after 15 of the last 22 months that the child is in foster care, federal guidelines state that the agency or county that has legal custody of the child must move to terminate the parents’ legal rights in order to free the child for adoption. Foster parents must be committed to the long term well being of the children in their care and are encouraged to build relationships with the birth parents of their children in their home.

Foster and Kinship Care 101

Are you interested in helping a child by becoming a foster parent but don’t know where to start? Discover what being a foster parent means and learn about the realities and issues to consider beforehand.

How to Become A Foster Parent in New York

The first step to becoming a foster parent in New York State is to decide with what agency you will work. Families can work with your county Department of Social Services, a private agency or a public agency. While their job is to guide you along the way, you will need to understand the process, the requirements and how to prepare.

Financial Support For Foster and Kinship Families

In New York, foster parents are entitled to a monthly financial allowance. This allowance is  intended to help cover a portion of the costs that caring for children in their home entails. The annual board rate, which is set according to the child’s age, is intended to reimburse foster parents for the cost of caring for the child. There are three foster care payment categories for foster boarding homes: basic, special, and exceptional.

Departments of Social Services set their own clothing allowance rates up to the maximum allowed. A regular clothing allowance, based on the child’s maximum age, is included in the board rate and is part of the monthly payment. An emergency clothing allowance may be obtained in special situations. If approved, an initial clothing allowance is available for the child at the time of initial placement. Any clothing purchased for a child in care belongs to the child and should be taken by the child whenever s/he moves or is returned home. It is expected that a child will leave with sufficient and clean clothes.

Legal Concerns and Issues

Foster parents who watch over, listen to, and nurture the children in their care have a unique awareness and understanding of the complex issues surrounding decisions about the child’s future.  While the law provides foster parents with opportunities to assume new roles in the permanency planning process, foster parents themselves must accept responsibility for understanding and exercising them. While New York’s foster care policies and standards are governed by the state; foster care and adoption services are administered at the county level. Local practices may vary between New York’s 58 autonomous social services districts.  The five counties of New York City constitute one social service district.

Understanding Family Court Proceedings

Although federal and NYS codes and regulations provide foster parents with specific rights to notice and an opportunity to be heard in foster care family court proceedings; many NYS foster parents are unaware of or discouraged from exercising their codified rights and responsibilities in Family Court.

Active and informed participation in Family Court is a core foster parent responsibility and crucial to achieving outcomes in the child’s best interest.  The following resources are offered to increase foster parents’ understanding of, and effective participation, in the family court process.