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Services for Children, Youth and Their Families

Foster Care

Foster Care General Information

Foster Care is temporary care in your home for a child who has been removed from his or her home due to abuse or neglect. Children in need of foster homes range in age from infants through teens, come from all racial/ethnic groups, and some children have special physical or educational needs. Many require special support to catch up educationally and socially with their peers. The goal for most foster children is to return to their parent(s) when the circumstances that led to foster placement have been resolved. However, sometimes children are not able to return home and need a permanent family. This is accomplished through adoption. If you would welcome a child into your home, the love and guidance you can give will benefit that child the rest of his or her life.

Who Can Provide a Home?

To become a foster parent in Delaware, there are certain requirements you need to meet including the following:

  • You can be single, married, divorced or widowed.
  • You can rent or own your home.
  • You must be at least 21 years of age and no older than 65.
  • You will need to participate in nine weeks of pre-service training.
  • You must have a criminal background check and be fingerprinted.
  • You can be any race or religion.
  • You will need to have a home, health, and safety study.
  • You need to be economically stable.
  • You will need to provide references.

Whenever the agency is considering placing a child in your home, the child and the circumstances of placement will be described to you, and you will have the right to determine if you will open your home to that child.

Foster Parents:

  • protect and nurture children;
  • meet the children’s developmental needs and address developmental delays;
  • support relationships between children and their families;
  • promote permanency planning leading to reunification with the child’s family.. or other safe nurturing relationships intended to last a lifetime;
  • participate as essential and effective members of a professional team.

Foster Families care...

  • about children who have abused, neglected, or abandoned.. and who have gone through the pain of separation from their families. Foster parents give children the support they need to grow physically, emotionally, educationally, and socially.
  • about the families of children in care whose parents are overburdened and may have problems with addictions, parenting skills, relationships, or legal difficulties. Foster families respect the bonds between children and their parents and siblings. Often foster parents become role models and supports for birth parents while they struggle to make changes in their lives so they can be reunited with their children.
  • about the right of every child to belong to a family which loves them and keeps them safe. Foster parents participate as team members with social workers and counselors to plan for the child’s return to his/her own family.. or when that is not possible.. to plan for the child to move onto adoption or another permanent living arrangement.

Foster Care Recommendations

Frequently Asked Questions

I have children of my own. Can I still be a foster or adoptive parent?
Yes! As a foster parent, you can have up to five children living in your home, including your own.

Can we foster or adopt a sibling group?
Yes! Family connections are important. We attempt to keep siblings together.

I'm not sure if I want to foster or adopt.
That's okay. Most folks need more information before they make a commitment. Orientation sessions are provided to share information in order to help you make this decision.

Do foster parents get paid?
No, foster parents do not get paid, however, they receive a non-taxable stipend to care for each child placed in their home. The stipend is to assist them in the care of the child. The range of the stipend can be anywhere from $13.04 to $55.00 per day for each child, based on the age of child, his/her needs, the foster parent’s skills, training and level of service they agree to provide. To review the leveling for stipends, go to kids.delaware.gov service–foster care, click on the foster care model (foster Care Task Force Report May 2001)

Can I choose the age range and gender of the child I want to care for?
Yes. We try to match a child to a family based on strengths and needs.

Isn't it hard to give up a child once you become attached?
Loving the child and then sending him/her back to a healthier family are the hardest and most important parts of a foster parents job. By helping the child stay connected to his/her family, foster parents often feel they have contributed to the strengthening of the child's family.

Supports for Foster Parents

Respite Care

Respite care provides foster parents occasional relief from the daily demands of caring for children in foster care. It affords them the opportunity to attend to the needs of their own family.

Newsletters

Other Information

Those who decide to become foster parents can do so for the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, Division of Family Services OR for one of the private agencies listed below.

Persons interested in working for a private agency should follow the links below for additional information. ALL private agencies offer orientation sessions and additional information upon request.

Persons interested in working for the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families should use the information below to contact the county office of the county in which they reside. Department orientation sessions are conducted regularly. However, staff are available to take your calls and provide additional information during regular business hours.

DSCYF Foster Care Contact Information

Mailing Address: 1825 Faulkland Rd, Wilmington, DE 19805
Telephone: Monday-Friday 8:00am – 4:30pm
New Castle County...302/451-2800
Kent County...302/739-4800
Sussex County...302/422-1400
or call 1-800-464-4357
Email: foster_care.dscyf

 
Last Updated: Monday, 30-Jun-2008 11:59:25 EDT
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