The Virginia Foster Care Education Center

Becoming a foster parent in the state of Virginia has two processes:

• Licensure through a therapeutic foster care program that services Department of Social Service localities across the state or

• Licensure only for your locality as a foster parent directly through your local DSS.

If you want to be licensed through HumanKind Foster Care, a therapeutic foster care agency, your first step is to contact us through our website and a recruiter will reach out to you and complete an initial interest/assessment interview. This is an opportunity for the agency to learn more about you and your family, answer any questions you may have, and make sure fostering is a good fit for everyone involved.

The licensing process

The foster parent licensing team will guide you through the rest of the approval process. This will include:

• Interviews with everyone who lives in your household

• Visits to your home

• Background checks

• Collecting required source documents like proof of insurances, proof of income, marriage or divorce decrees, and other documents.

Your licensing specialist will also tour your home to make sure it is safe and has appropriate space for a foster child. You will complete required foster parent training along the way, which will help prepare you for some of the situations and challenges you may experience while fostering.

All of the information gathered during the home visit process will be used to determine your family’s eligibility and to complete your foster care home study. The home study tells the story of your family, your home, your support system, your parenting style, and why you want to foster children. We create your home study to share with DSS when you would like to make your home available to a child.

The entire approval process can take about 60 to 90 days, depending on how quickly interviews, training, background checks, and paperwork are completed. Once approved, you can foster children for three years.  After three years, you will go through a reapproval process to update any changes to your home/life and verify pertinent information.

The renewal process is much simpler than your initial certification process. As long as you continue meeting the requirements, you can continue fostering for as many years as your family would like. HumanKind will always work with and support your family throughout your journey as a foster parent.

Treatment Foster Care agencies are agencies licensed by the state of Virginia to provide a foster parent resource network to any of the 132 DSS agencies across Virginia. There’s a variety of reasons why a local DSS would contract an external foster family through a TFC agency including all of their foster homes being at capacity, keeping a sibling set together, a child’s needs exceeding the level of training and support required of a DSS foster, and other unique circumstances.

When children come into foster care they have a diverse range of experiences. Some have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, multiple foster home placements, or other situations that have affected their emotional, behavioral, or physical needs. The goal of Treatment Foster Care is to place children with a safe and stable family that has been trained to provide trauma-informed care while also giving them the additional services and support they need.

Treatment foster parents are not expected to handle every situation on their own. They receive additional training to help them better understand trauma, behaviors, mental health needs, and how a child's past experiences can affect the way they respond to people and situations. Foster parents work closely with a team that may include their HumanKind Foster Care case worker, the child's DSS worker, therapists, doctors, teachers, biological family members, and other professionals involved in the child's life.

As a treatment foster care parent, you are the most important part of that team. You will:

• Help a child work toward treatment goals

• Learn coping strategies and social skills

• Improve behaviors

• Attend appointments

• Build healthy relationships.

Sometimes that simply means providing consistency, structure, patience, and encouragement while helping a child feel heard and safe in your home.

Treatment Foster Care does not mean that every child placed in your home will have severe behavioral problems; every child is different, and the level of support they need varies greatly. The agency you choose should provide information about a child before placement so your family can decide if you are comfortable meeting that child's needs.

Treatment Foster Care is about giving children who need additional support the opportunity to thrive with a supportive family. Your family will provide care and stability, while your agency and treatment team provide training, guidance, resources, and ongoing support along the way.

Foster parents receive monthly payments to cover each foster child’s room, board, and other expenses; the payment for each child is based on age.  This money is not a paycheck in the traditional sense; it’s a maintenance payment that covers the cost of the child’s basic care like food, housing, clothing, school supplies, recreation activities, and other personal expenses.  Some children may also qualify for a VEMAT (Viginia Enhanced Maintenance Assessment Tool) payment. If the foster child requires more care from you than is normally expected, you may receive a VEMAT payment on top of the regular maintenance payment. 

All children who enter foster care have medical insurance, regardless of their biological home’s situation.  Foster children are immediately enrolled in Medicaid Cardinal Care, which covers all medical expenses.  You will pay nothing out of pocket for the medical care of foster children.  You will however need to make the appointments and transport the children as you are their parent. 

All payments received while providing foster care are non-taxable.  You do not need to report foster care payments on your tax return.  In addition to this, depending on how long a foster child lives with you, they may also qualify as your dependent for certain federal tax purposes. Tax rules are complicated, so we always advise parents to talk with a tax professional before claiming a foster child on their tax return.

Being nervous is a good sign. That means you care and want to do the best job possible.  Let’s be honest, it would be strange if you weren’t a little nervous: you are inviting a stranger into your home.  You are about to take on the responsibility for another human being that has been through a traumatic situation.  You have no idea what they have been through.  That’s huge.

Being nervous does not mean that you made the wrong decision about fostering.  There’s a difference in thinking “I don’t want to do this,” and “I am so nervous, I really want to do the best job possible for this child.”

You can be excited about fostering and nervous at the same time. New parents who are bringing home their infant from the hospital for the first time have similar thoughts. It’s kind of like riding that exciting amusement park ride for the first time: you were nervous but ended up having a great time.

The good news is that you are not expected to know everything on the first day; you have time and support available. Your training has helped prepare you, and your foster care agency will be there to support you along the way. Always ask questions and reach out when you need help. Nobody expects you to be a perfect parent.

Also remember, the child coming into your home is way more nervous than you are. They are coming to a home with people they have never met before. Give them time to settle in and get comfortable. Show them their room, offer them something to eat, and explain the basic rules of your home.  Just don't overwhelm them with too much information at once.

Most importantly, be yourself. Be patient, welcoming, and understanding. Take things one day at a time, and before long, that nervous feeling will start to disappear as everyone gets comfortable with each other.

Many people ask themselves this when they begin looking into the foster care realm. However, it might be better to ask:

• Am I patient?

• Am I flexible?

• Am I willing to learn?

• Can I be consistent in my parenting? 

These are the real questions, as these are the characteristics that traditionally make a good Treatment Foster parent.

Am I patient?  A patient parent is usually calm, tries to be understanding, and can control their reactions/emotions when things don’t go as planned.  Being patient doesn’t mean you never get frustrated.  It means you have the ability to control yourself and your reactions, so the situation doesn’t escalate. People who are patient have good listening skills; they give others time to explain themselves without interrupting. Patient people seek first to understand so they can give their best answer. 

Am I flexible? A flexible person can handle unexpected situations and is able to compromise with others to find a great decision for everyone involved.  They can prioritize what is important and adjust their expectations regarding the outcome.  A flexible person also understands what works best for one child may not for another. 

Am I willing to learn?  A person willing to learn can accept their mistakes as growth instead of failure.  They have an open mind and will accept different points of view.  They aren’t too proud to ask for help or advice when needed.  Most importantly though, they listen.

Can I be a consistent parent?  A consistent parent has clear, safe rules and expectations.  They follow through with what they say and expect the same from their children. They respond calmly to adverse behaviors and make sure consequences fit without shaming the child.  Being consistent means, you set the example at all times, and model the behavior you expect from your child.   

If you say, “Yeah, I can do these things,” then Treatment Foster Care is absolutely right for you.  We would love to help you start your foster care journey today!

So, you’re looking into becoming a foster parent. As you’ve researched, you probably heard about the training, background checks, home visits, paperwork, and all the other fun stuff that comes with getting approved. But what about the things you don't understand until that kiddo is in your home?

We here at HumanKind Foster Care looked at what experienced foster parents say they wish they had known before they started, and a few things kept coming up.

First, you will get attached. You can tell yourself, “I know reunification is the goal. I'm prepared for this, piece of cake.” Then suddenly you're the person who knows exactly how this little one likes their sandwich cut, which stuffed animal must be in bed at night, and which song has to play in the car every morning. Foster parents often say they weren't prepared for just how emotional fostering could be. There will be fun days, tough days, and days when you wonder why did I sign up for this?! And when a child you've cared for leaves your home, it can hurt, even when you know they are going back to where they belong.

Getting attached doesn't mean you’re fostering wrong. It usually means you cared, and that’s exactly the type of parent a child needs while they are in the foster care system.

 Another thing foster parents quickly learn is that you may need to throw out the traditional parenting playbook — or at least rewrite some chapters. Children in foster care have experienced loss by being separated from their families, and many have experienced trauma before entering your home. Because of that, behaviors don't always mean what they appear to mean. A child hiding snacks in their bedroom might not simply be breaking a rule; they may have never had enough food in their biological home. A child who pushes every button you have might be trying to figure out whether you're going to give up on them. Sometimes the better question isn't, “How do I stop this behavior?” but “Why is this behavior happening?”

Foster parenting takes patience, flexibility, consistency, and occasionally reminding yourself that you're the adult in the room — even when you're pretty sure a 5-year-old has successfully out-negotiated you. And then there's your calendar; you thought you were busy before? Foster children have doctor appointments, therapy, family visits, school meetings, caseworker visits, treatment meetings, and other appointments. Add phone calls, paperwork, training requirements, transportation, and the occasional schedule change, and life can get busy quickly.

Many foster parents say they underestimated this part of fostering. Sometimes the biggest challenge isn't parenting the child at all; it's time management. Foster parenting isn't always easy. It's occasionally chaotic, frequently unpredictable, and almost never boring. But in the middle of all that, you get the opportunity to give a child something simple: a safe place to land, people who care about them, and some stability while their family works toward what comes next.

Treatment can sound a little intimidating at first, but once you understand what it is, you see it as a practical resource for any child in the foster care system. Within treatment foster care agencies, there are a varying level of behavioral, emotional, and mental health needs of the children.

The easiest way to think about TFC is that some of the kids need more support than traditional foster care can provide. Treatment foster care has the infrastructure put in place to evaluate, fund, and provide case management for any child no matter what their level of need is determined to be. Many children in the foster care system have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, multiple moves, or other difficult situations that have affected how they handle emotions, relationships, rules, and everyday life. Some may have mental health, developmental, behavioral, or medical needs that require additional help. That doesn’t mean they’re “bad kids;” it simply means life has handed them some difficult stuff, and they need trauma-trained foster parents to help them work through it.

Children in foster care might struggle with controlling their emotions, following rules, trusting adults, getting along at school, or feeling safe. Sometimes behaviors that look like defiance point to a child trying to protect themselves using coping skills they learned long before arriving at your house. This is where treatment foster parents make a difference. They still do all the regular parent things like making dinner, helping with homework, setting boundaries, and giving encouragement, but they also receive additional training and support to help meet the child’s specific needs.

Treatment foster parents work closely with a team that includes case managers, DSS workers, therapists, teachers, doctors, and other professionals. There are more appointments, meetings, documentation, and communication than you would typically see in traditional foster care, but foster parents aren’t expected to figure everything out on their own. That additional support is a big part of TFC.

For some children, Treatment Foster Care also provides an alternative to living in a group home or residential facility allowing them to receive additional services while still experiencing everyday family life. Basically, the difference between traditional foster care and Treatment Foster Care really comes down to an agency being able to support children no matter what they need. Some kids need a safe home. Others need that same safe home with a little more structure, training, patience, teamwork, and support thrown in.

Absolutely, not only do you now have the time, but you also have the life experience needed to be a terrific parent.  All parents regardless of age are required to take a medical physical to ensure they are mentally and physically capable of fostering. 

Yes, you can.  Just keep your foster care agency informed of any TDY or PCS orders you receive and identify people willing to support you (ex. provide childcare) when needed.

Of course you can. Foster parents come in all colors, shapes, sizes, and identities. 

Yes, as long as your pets are vaccinated, meet all city/county ordinances, and are friendly and gentle with children.

Yes, single people make great foster parents too.  Make sure to identify people in your support system to assist with things like childcare or school pickup and drop off.  Having a good support system makes things easier as a single parent.

Sure you can!  As long as you are physically and mentally capable, you can foster.  All foster parents have to take a medical physical with their doctor prior to being approved.

Yes. You will need to provide proof of renters insurance during your approval process and keep it current while fostering. 

Even better, as you are already familiar with the care children require.  Also, children love playing with other children. 

Yes, you can.  A parent that is employed sets a great example for a child. Make sure to identify a good support system that can assist with appointments, and school drop off and pickup. 

Yes.  At HumanKind, we encourage our foster parents to take kids on vacation with them.  If taking your foster child on vacation is not an option, respite is available.