No, you can be married, single, divorced, widowed or living with a partner. However, if you are presenting as a couple, both must go through the approval process.

No, you can rent. But you must have adequate space available and your landlord's approval to care for foster children.

Yes. Extra help for the cost of day care may be available.

• Applicants must be at least 21 years old.
• Foster/Adoptive parents can be married, single or living with a partner.
• Foster/Adoptive families should be financially stable and have an income sufficient to meet the family's needs.
• Applicants must be able to provide a safe, secure and healthy home for a child.
• Foster/Adoptive parents must be in good physical and mental health.
• All adults in the home must complete criminal background checks including FBI, sex offender registry and a check of the child abuse registry.
• All applicants must complete training to help them understand the needs of children in foster care.

To meet the needs of children placed in their home, foster parents receive:

• Financial assistance in the form of a daily rate.
• Medical coverage for the children.
• Daycare assistance for working parents.
• Other assistance provided to meet the specialized needs of children on a case by case basis.

• Basic foster homes.
• Medically Complex Homes - for children with medical challenges.
• Specialized Medically Complex Homes - for children with medical and emotional challenges.
• Degreed Medically Complex Homes - for children with medical challenges in which the primary caretaker is a health care professional.
• Care Plus Foster Home - for children who have emotional or behavioral challenges.

The law defines respite care as "temporary care provided by another family or individual to provide relief to a foster or adoptive parent with the expectation of the child's return to the current foster or adoptive home".

Foster parents are required to receive a minimum of fifteen hours approved curriculum training and fifteen hours of pre-service web-based training to becoming a foster parent. Approved foster and adoptive families must complete a minimum of ten hours of ongoing training each year.

Yes. We want to ensure that the needs of the children placed in the home are compatible with the strengths of the foster parents.

Applicants will be expected to have an income sufficient to meet their present family needs and to insure the stability of the family unit.

A child may be placed with a relative when it is in the best interest of the child. To be eligible for the assistance provided to foster parents, a relative foster home must meet the same requirements for training and ongoing approval as nonrelative homes. The majority of children who are placed with relatives do so outside of the foster care system, and the family does not need to become approved to foster or adopt.

Kentucky offers foster parent peer support through programs such as:

• The Kentucky Foster and Adoptive Training Support Network.
• The Foster Parent Mentor Program.
• Adoption Support for Kentucky.

Possibly. Foster care is temporary care with the goal of reuniting the child with his or her birth family. Three out of four foster children do go home and it is important for foster parents to help the child successfully reunite with his or her birth parents while helping the child during such a tumultuous time. In the event that the child's goal changes to adoption, the foster family may apply to adopt. Many adoptions in Kentucky are foster parent adoptions. In selecting adoptive families, the best interest of the child is always of the utmost importance. Therefore, many factors have to be considered. For example, does the child need to be adopted with his or her siblings who may be in other foster homes? Your Therapeutic Case Manager (TCM) can help you in deciding whether to explore this option.

All known relevant information about the child's educational, medical or developmental history is provided to the foster parent.

This is not a problem unless the child is allergic or scared.

Actually, there's no typical model. Some foster families are single-parent families. Some have kids in their home while others don't. Some older foster parents have already raised their own family, but want to open their hearts and homes to more kids. Some are homeowners, and some are renters. Foster parents come from all racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds and sexual orientations.

A child's placement may be for as short as an overnight stay or longer than a year.

A foster child's return home is usually the ultimate goal. The foster parent will have the opportunity to participate in the planning and to say goodbye to the foster child. This can be a difficult time, but the child's return home represents a success. Returning home is the goal for most children in foster care. You will play an integral role in helping the child and family successfully transition.