Become a Foster Parent and Change a Child's Life
“Ordinary people can do extraordinary things…”
Opening your home and your heart to a foster child is a wonderful life changing experience for the foster parent and child, but it is filled with challenges as well as the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable children.
Foster families substitute for biological families when children need protection and support services as a result of abuse, abandonment or neglect by their natural (biological) parents.
Foster parents provide loving care, a safe and stable environment, patience and understanding, consistent positive discipline, and respect for the children in their care.
Foster Parents provide temporary homes for children, birth to age 18, until they can be safely reunited with their biological families, which is our goal in most cases. When reunification is not possible, we provide for long term quality foster care and adoption; as well as provide programs and services for teens that are learning to live independently.
Becoming a foster parent simply requires you to have a love for children, be at least 21 years of age, pass a certification process, and complete 20 hrs of initial training through RCS.
As a Foster Parent…
- you give hope to a child or youth in need;
- you become part of a professional team that strengthens families and our community;
- you provide a valuable experience for yourself and your family;
- you choose the child (or children) suitable to your home and schedule;
- you play a key role in the care and treatment of your foster child;
- you help pave the way for your foster child to possibly reunify with his/her biological family;
- you may be single, continue to work outside your home, and you do not have to own your home;
- you receive a tax-free monthly payment for your services;
- you receive extensive training;
- RCS provides a 24 hour network of support.
Team Approach
At Redwood Children’s Services we promote a team approach that values our foster parents from the very beginning by providing extensive training during the certification process. This helps prepare new foster parents address the complex issues related to providing care and understanding for children who have experienced trauma. Our experienced foster parents also serve as mentors and trainers in our programs to continue to improve the services we offer in support of our foster parents.
Our agency also focuses on the growth of both our foster parents and the children placed in their care by providing a full array of support services to promote healthy and healing relationships in loving homes. Our individualized strength based programs and our excellent on going support of our foster parents is what sets us apart from other agencies.
Our case managers provide weekly in home support which includes family meetings, conflict resolution and staff support whenever help is needed. Foster parents also receive the support and guidance of our professional clinical staff to help ensure that children in our care do not just survive in foster care, but thrive and learn to love again.
We also welcome grandparents, aunts and uncles who cannot be full-time foster parents but can provide weekend respite care to become part of an extended family providing foster care. Not everyone can take a foster child into their home, but everyone can do something to brighten the life of foster children in our community.
Join the Redwood Children’s Services family as we create a community of love and caring for the most vulnerable children in our community. Call 467-2000 (Mendocino Co.) or 263-0372 (Lake Co.) for more information on how you can become a foster parent or other ways you can help.
