1. Who are the children most likely to need foster families and adoptive families?
2. Do all children who need foster families and adoptive families have problems?
3. What are the qualifications to be a foster parent or an adoptive parent?
4. What does it cost to foster or to adopt, and how do the finances work?
5. How long does it take to become a foster parent or an adoptive parent?
6. Why do we need special training?
7. Do I have complete legal and financial responsibility for children placed with me and my family?

• Brothers and sisters who want/need to be together
• Children who are medically fragile
• Children born exposed to alcohol and drugs
• Teenagers, and teen mothers and their babies
  

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• Children are often frightened and confused by the separation from their parents. Children exhibit behaviors such as being angry or sad. They may think they are being punished for something they have done.
• Over time the children's behaviors change and they become less angry or sad. They begin to develop a sense of trust and a feeling of safety with the foster parent or adoptive parent.

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• Foster parents and adoptive parents can be married or single, with or without children, and at least 18 years of age.
• The foster parent and adoptive parent have to understand how children grow and develop, and how abuse and neglect affect that development.
• Visits between children and their families are important. The CPSW will arrange those contacts.

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• The department provides foster board reimbursement of $529.00 per month for each child in foster care. This check can take a month to come so families must be financially stable.

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• The licensing/training process will take about three months.
• If you are able to take in older children, siblings, or younger children with medical problems, you probably will be able to have a child placed with you quicker.

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• The PRIDE program gives you ways to support your child going through foster care or being adopted.
• A child should never feel they must "choose" between families. Assure the child it is okay to care about all our families.

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• The Department of Human Services has physical custody of the child and the responsibility of providing the necessary care for this child.
• Birth parents retain legal rights such as the right to consent to adoption, to marriage, or to major medical or psychological care or treatment.
• If you are an adoptive family, the Department has permanent custody of the child until the adoption is finalized.

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