Foster Parenting

Training Schedules

Interested in becoming a Foster Caregiver?

We need you!

If you are interested in learning more about Adoptive Parenting please contact your regional DCFS Home Development office for the most up-to-date information on orientation and training.

Foster parents play a special role in the life of a child who, because of abuse, neglect or sexual victimization, has had to leave their family.

Become a Foster Parent

Foster Care is a protective service provided to children in custody of the Department of Children and Family Services. It provides substitute, temporary care (e.g., foster family home, residential care facility, etc.) for a planned period of time when a child must be separated from his or her own parents or relatives.

About Being a Foster Parent

• Introduction to Foster Parenting
• Common Questions about Foster and Adoptive Parenting
• Am I Ready To Be A Foster/ Adoptive Parent Quiz
• Become a Foster Parent Booklet
  
• Code of Ethics for Foster Parents

Certification Information

• Minimum Qualifications for Certification/Steps to Certification
• Required Documents for Certification
• Where To Go To Get Started
• Orientation, Pre-Service Training Schedules

Foster Parent Resources

Provider Portal

• Are you currently a certified foster/adoptive parent? If your response is yes, visit DCFS' Provider Portal. Once registered, you will have the ability to: 1) upload/download documents; 2) submit Expenditure Affidavit - Form 435; 3) review board/expenditure history.
  
  
• Interested in becoming a certified foster/adoptive parent? Visit DCFS' Provider Portal to submit an: 1) Inquiry; 2) Application; and 3) Expenditure Affidavit - Form 435. This feature also allows a user to upload and/or download documentation necessary for certification.

Court Process and Legal Rights Guide For Foster Caregivers

This guide is to be used to learn more about Child in Need of Care (“CINC”) cases.

It is for foster parents, relatives, fictive kin (individuals connected to a child or family through bonds of affection, concern, obligation, and/or responsibility), and pre-adoptive parents with whom a child is living on a provisional (i.e., short-term) basis while a CINC case is being resolved.

Foster Caregiver Progress Form

The Foster Caregiver Progress Form below gives foster caregivers the opportunity to provide valuable information about how the child in their care is doing and exercise their legal right to be heard in court.

Additional Information & Supportive Services

• Louisiana Foster and Adoptive Parents Association
• North American Council on Adoptable Children
• Adoption Center
• Raise the Future
• Child Welfare Information Gateway
• National Foster Parent Association
• National Foster Care Month - Childwelfare.gov
• Fostering Families Today
• Foster Care and Adoptive Community - fosterparents.com
• Foster Parent Handbook
• Department of Education Parent Resource
• Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)

Agency Forms

• Agency Policy
• Foster Caregiver Progress Form
• Form 435 (Reimbursement Form)
• Direct Deposit

Questions? Email the Foster Care Program