Foster Care at St. Catherine's Center for Children is...

• providing a temporary home and parenting to a child who is not able to live with his or her family.

• different from adoption because children stay on temporarily.

• specialized because our children have emotional, behavioral, or developmental difficulties which demand special skills and strength from foster families.
  

You Can Be a Foster Parent If...

• you are flexible and adaptable and can cope with new people in your household who will only stay temporarily.
  
• you would like to learn more about parenting, especially more about children who are experiencing difficulties.
  
• you like to work as part of a team.
  

Our Children...

• range in age from toddler through twelve.
  
• have experience many separations and traumas.
  
• have behavioral, emotional, or developmental problems and sometimes experience difficulty in school.
  
• need a consistent, predictable and warm home environment to compensate for their losses. 

Responsibilities of the Professional Foster Family

• Incorporate child into the home as a full family member. Recognize each child's individual needs and strengths. Provide consistency, nurturance, security, supervision, and structure. Work on identified goals and strategies.
  
• Work with treatment team to pinpoint goals and to develop programs and techniques to reach goals.
  
• Maintain close communication with the team, sharing observations, progress, appropriate and designated client records.
  
• Provide transportation to St. Catherine's for family visits, therapy, and assessments.
  
• Obtain routine medical and dental care for the children to include annual physical and twice yearly dental check-ups plus any other routine care. Secure and return to St. Catherine's a completed consultation sheet after each visit.
  
• Enroll child in school program and maintain contact with teachers. Attend school conferences.
  
• Participate in support and training groups/workshops and conferences. 

Steps to Becoming a Professional Foster Parent

1. Attend an orientation meeting with the Supervisor of Specialized Foster Care.
   
2. Fill out an application and get a physical examination.
   
3. Begin the home study process which is a means by which you, your family, and agency staff can evaluate each other and determine whether all can work effectively together.

If you would like to become a professional foster parent, please contact

Therapeutic Family Programs at (518) 435-9029.