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Foster care is the
providing of room, board and watchful oversight
to children in need of temporary care in
approved foster homes. Foster care is
administered differently in each state according
to their laws and licensing regulations.
There are two ways
for foster care services to be provided: (1)
through state agencies, such as the Department
of Family and Children Services (DFCS) in
Georgia; or (2) through private agencies
licensed to provide these services, such as
Georgia AGAPE.
 The
types of foster care center around the types of
children needing care. There are those who need
just basic services all the way up to those
needing intensive treatment and supervision.
There are children who are served in family
homes and those served in group homes and group
residential settings.
In family foster
care, there are foster homes who focus on
serving children with basic needs, such as
infants and children without behavioral,
emotional or medical conditions requiring
specialized care. There are families who serve
children with greater behavioral and emotional
needs. There are also foster homes who
specialize in serving children with medical
needs, sometimes identified as being “medically
fragile.”
For those interested
in becoming foster parents, please know that
each private agency has their own qualifying
requirements to serve. Due to our Christian
mission, we have a more restrictive set of
requirements than most agencies. However, DFCS
has the broadest set of qualifying requirements
and recruits families county by county. |
