Foster and Kinship Care 101

Foster care is a protective service for children and their families when families can no longer care for their children. There are many reasons and circumstances (poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, homelessness, loss of a job or lack of support from extended family and community) that make it difficult for biological families to meet the needs of their children. 

In foster care, the children are provided with a safe, nurturing, loving family for a temporary period of time.  There are many types of foster care, including traditional care, emergency/shelter care, medical/therapeutic care, relative/kinship care, respite/short-term care and tribal care.  However, foster parenting is not a lifetime commitment to a child and his or her family, but a commitment to being meaningful to the child and the child’s family.

Foster and Kinship Care is:

  • A chance to make the world a better place — one child at a time.
  • One of the most challenging experiences you will have in your life.
  • One of the most rewarding opportunities for which you will ever volunteer.
  • Sometimes, but not always, a pathway to adoption.

Foster and Kinship Care is NOT:

  • it is not simple: emotionally, socially or in terms of your time
  • it is not something you do for yourself – it’s about the child
  • it is not a way to make money
  • a low cost way to adopt a child

Have you Been Asked to Care for a Relative’s Child?

While many people make a choice to become a foster parent, there are also many families that don’t have time to make a choice and plan. We know that when children cannot be raised by their immediate family, extended family, or kin, is the is more beneficial for the children in the long term. New York state is committed to placing children within their genetic family structures if at all possible, so many families answer an emergency or crisis call to take in and care for the children of their brothers, or sisters, or cousins or children. This is Kinship Care.

Is Foster Care for You?

All types of foster parents are needed in every part of New York. Being a successful foster parent is hard work and it requires opening yourself and your home. Yet, foster parenting can be  the most gratifying work you will ever consider.  The heart of it, of course, is working with children and their families.  Foster care also involves partnering with social workers, schools and community resources to meet an infant, child or young person’s needs.  All types of people make good foster parents as we all have our own special talents, but keep in mind that foster parenting is not for everyone.  If your family is thinking of foster care, contact an agency near you, and begin the discussion.