Foster Parent Licensing

Foster Care is a temporary living arrangement for abused, neglected, and dependent children who need a safe place to live when their parents or another relative cannot take care of them. Often their families face issues such as illness, alcohol and drug addiction, or homelessness. When the County Department of Social Services believes a child is not safe, and a Judge agrees, DSS takes custody of that child and finds a foster home for him or her. Length of stay in foster care varies from a few days to much longer. The foster family, DSS, and the birth family work together to return children to their own homes as quickly as possible.

Foster families are recruited and trained to care for abused and neglected children. These families are licensed to care for foster children temporarily, while their parents work with social work professionals to resolve their family issues. Relatives may also be licensed as foster parents. Foster parents may be considered as adoptive parents if their foster child becomes free for adoption.

How to Become a Foster Parent
If you are interesting in learning more about becoming a foster parent, Rutherford County DSS can offer information that will help you decide if foster parenting is right for you. 

North Carolina law requires every potential foster parent to complete thirty (30) hours of training prior to being licensed. The training includes information on topics such as child abuse and neglect, working with birth parents, and helping foster children deal with the issues they face. It also helps potential foster parents think about how parenting another child may affect their family.

Become a Foster Parent
"You Can Help"

An initial application for Foster Parenting can be obtain on this web site and returned to the Department of Social Services

Foster Parent Application

For more information contact:
Angela Black       287-6295
Felicia Hodges   287-6258
Jovan Baccus     287-6297