CHILDREN SERVICES

FOSTER HOME RECRUITMENT

Current News about Foster Homes:

Administrative Area for Foster Home Recruitment

Washington County Children Services currently has 25 family foster homes. Although this may sound like a lot of homes to work with local children, the need for additional foster families is great.

When a child needs to be placed in a foster home, the agency strives to match the child with the most appropriate foster home available to ensure the child's needs are met. Foster homes should be chosen truly on the basis of matching a child's needs to a foster family's traits and skill level rather than because it is the only home available. The more foster homes available, the better the match that can be made. The greatest need for foster parenting is for school age children, sibling groups and teenagers.

Foster parents are special, but also ordinary people who have chosen to accept the challenges and joys of fostering children. Specific licensing standards set by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the agency must be met in order for a person to be licensed as a foster parent. A single adult, age 21 or older, or a married couple may become foster parents. Both parents may work out of the home, but childcare must be maintained out of the foster parents per diem. The first step is to register and attend the 33 hour pre-service training class that the agency offers for prospective foster and/or adoptive parents twice a year. Classes are held in the Spring and Fall. After the classes are completed, an application form must be completed and submitted to the agency for the home assessment to be initiated. The home assessment entails several meetings or interviews with an adoption assessor in your home. While the meetings are being conducted you and your caseworker will be completing the other requirements of the home assessment which are listed below:

• Local background checks are completed on all adults in the home, as well as State and Federal Fingerprint checks of all adults in the home.
• An income statement must reflect the foster home's income is sufficient to meet the basic needs of the household.
• Physical exams must be conducted on all members of the household by licensed physicians.
• A safety audit is conducted by the Caseworker.
• A fire inspection is completed by the local fire department.
• A water test is needed to ensure well or cistern water is safe to drink.
• 4 references will be contacted by the Caseworker.
• Additional information may be required, as needed.
• Foster families must have a willingness to work with the agency and local service providers.

Your Caseworker will assist you through the process and make the home assessment run as smoothly as possible. The entire process can take up to 6 months. Some assessments can take longer depending on how fast home assessment requirements are conducted by the family and when the fingerprint process is completed. Would you place your child in the home and hands of people you did not know very well and would not be safe? Neither would we! The home assessment process is necessary for the safety and welfare of Washington County's Children.

If you would like to step up to the challenge of foster care, please email Tonya Kidder or Sabrina Buchanan or call us at 740-373-3485. We can answer questions and get you headed in the right direction!

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Washington County Children Services
204 Davis Ave.
Marietta, OH 45750
740-373-3485

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