Foster Parenting

Interested in becoming a Foster Caregiver?

We need you!

Visit our Foster Care Navigator to learn more about how you can BE THERE for Louisiana's children and families by becoming a foster caregiver or supporting the fostering community.

Already a Foster Caregiver and Have Questions?

Check out our Foster Care Fact Sheet!

Becoming a foster caregiver is a rewarding journey, but it can come with challenges, such as figuring out the rules and regulations. This Fact Sheet answers basic questions faced by many foster caregivers.

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.

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

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.

Foster Care Infographic

The Foster Care Infographic below provides valuable statistics and information about foster care and foster caregiving.

Child Passenger Safety

Child Passenger Safety Fitting Stations may be found statewide with over 600 nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians available to make sure your child's safety seats are installed properly. Proper use and proper installation of child safety seats could be the difference between life and death in the event of a crash. Learn more.

• Louisiana Passenger Safety Task Force Fitting Stations (Listed by LA State Police Regions)
• Transporting Children with Special Needs
• Additional Links & Resources

Additional Information & Supportive Services

• Foster Care Expenses and 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)
• Child Passenger Safety Law

Agency Forms

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

Questions? Email the Foster Care Program