Who are foster children?
Do I have to own my own home? What
if I'm a renter?
What if my family is a nontraditional
family?
What if I'm a single parent? Does
this mean I cannot become a certified parent?
What do certified parents do?
What does Inner Circle do as an agency?
How many children can share a room?
Can a boy and a girl share a room? As a parent, can I share my room with
a child?
Can I pick the age, gender & ethnicity
of the child I'd like to work with?
What do I do if the child gets sick
or hurt? What about health insurance?
Will I receive financial help?
Can I adopt the child/children who
are placed in my home?
How long does it take to become a
certified foster or fost-adopt parent?
How long does it take to get a child
placed in my home?
How much will it cost me to become
a certified foster or fost-adopt parent/family?
How do I know if foster or fost-adopt
parenting is right for my family and me?
Who are foster children?
Foster children are children who have been at least temporarily removed
from their homes because of abuse, abandonment or neglect. In addition,
infants who test positive for drugs at birth are detained and placed into
foster homes. Foster children are much like your children, nieces or nephews,
but with very different experiences. They are frequently filled with anger,
confusion, fear, and a sense of powerlessness because they’ve been
removed from the only home they have known. Sadly, foster children often
blame themselves for the abuse or neglect, leaving them with a sense of
shame and low self-esteem.
Do I have to own my own home? What if I'm a renter?
You do not need to be a homeowner. Renting is fine. We are more concerned
with finding a stable living arrangement with adequate space.
What is my family is a nontraditional family?
Inner Circle does not discriminate against anyone based on age, gender,
race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
What if I'm a single parent? Does this mean I
cannot become a certified parent?
No. Inner Circle recognizes that single parents can give a great deal
and provide high quality care to children. However, more emphasis and
planning are invested into solidifying a child care plan, including after
school care and daycare for school vacations and holidays.
What do certified parents do?
The foster family provides the home environment in which a child can safely
fulfill their physical, emotional, spiritual and cultural potentials,
therefore becoming responsible adults. Foster Parents are an active part
of the treatment team. They provide food, clothing, housing, supervision,
recreation, and transportation to needed services such as therapy, doctor
and dental visits. Most of all, foster parents provide nurturance, stability
and love.
What does Inner Circle do as an agency?
Inner Circle is a private, non-profit, state licensed corporation that
contracts with the County of Los Angeles to provide safe and loving foster
homes for abused, abandoned and/or neglected children. Inner Circle provides
educational training for foster parents, social work support, monitoring
of court ordered birth parent visits, and acts as the liaison between
the foster parents, birth parents, and county social worker. Inner Circle
provides this support 24 hours a day.
How many children can share a room? Can a boy
and a girl share a room? As a parent, can I share my room with a child?
State licensing regulations state that only two children can share a bedroom,
regardless of the size of the room. A boy and girl may share a room as
long as both children are under the age of 5. As a parent, you can share
your room with an infant, age 0 to 2.
Can I pick the age, gender & ethnicity of
the child I'd like to work with?
Yes. Inner Circle places children of all ethnicities from newborn to the
age of 18. You must decide who will fit best in your family, based on
your child care accommodations and natural children you may already have
in your home.
What do I do if the child gets sick or hurt? What
about health insurance?
Foster children are automatically covered under Medi-Cal for their medical
and dental needs. You will receive a health insurance card for the child
at the time of placement.
Will I receive financial help?
Yes. You will receive a generous monthly stipend meant to reimburse you
for most, if not all, expenses incurred during the month while caring
for the child/children. As the child increases in age, so does the stipend.
Foster families must be able to support themselves and/or their families
outside of the foster care monies.
Can I adopt the child/ children who are placed
in my home?
Possibly. Once the courts have determined that the child will not be able
to return to the birth family the foster or fost-adopt parents are given
the first option to adopt that child/children. This is how foster parenting
has become another, often quicker, way to adopt a child. However, as a
foster parent, at the time of placement, we cannot guarantee that the
child placed in your home will be freed for adoption. It is impossible
to predict whether the parents or extended family members will be able
to reunify at the time of placement. Therefore, there is an inherent emotional
risk involved in accepting a foster child into your home.
How long does it take to become a certified foster
or fost-adopt parent?
Typically, becoming a certified foster or fost-adopt family takes two
to three months. The length depends on how motivated you are to get started.
The training course, the background items (i.e. fingerprinting), the securing
of your home (i.e. locking of guns, medicines, poison, etc.), the home
study, and the completion of training questionnaires
can be accomplished rather rapidly or can be prolonged for months. As
they say, “the ball is in your court”.
How long does it take to get a child placed in
my home?
There is no definitive answer to that question. It really depends. The
more open you are to accepting children of varied age ranges, genders,
and ethnicities, the quicker the placement(s) may be. Conversely, the
narrower the range, the wait time may increase. However, Inner Circle
has been able to place into families the day following certification on
the narrowest of ranges while other families, who have fairly open ranges,
have waited several weeks. It really just depends.
How much will it cost me to become a certified
foster or fost-adopt parent/family?
Inner Circle does not charge for its services. There are no fees charged
to attend trainings or to have your Home Study conducted. However, there
are some fees charged to complete the certification process, i.e. fingerprinting
fees, DMV printout, CPR, First Aid, and Water Safety certification.
How do I know if foster or fost-adopt parenting
is right for my family and me?
• Can you love and care for a child who has come from a difficult
background?
• Can you help a child feel that they belong in your home, even
if their stay may be temporary?
• Can you love a child who, because of a fear of rejection, does
not easily make loving gestures?
• Are you secure in yourself and your parenting skills?
• Can you set clear limits, and be both firm and kind while disciplining?
• Do you view bed-wetting, lying, defiance, and minor destructiveness
as symptoms of a
child in need?
• Can you accept assistance and guidance from trained social workers?
• Can you maintain a positive attitude toward a child’s parents;
even though many of the
problems the child is experiencing are direct results of the parent’s
actions?
If you can say, “Yes” or “Probably” to these questions, then there are children out there who need you.
What qualifications do I need to become a certified
parent?
Click here to view our certification checklist.
