Foster Care & Adoption

Becoming a Resource (Foster/Adoptive) Family

Thank you for your interest in the children in our care.

When children and youth cannot safely live with their own families, the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) identifies an alternative family setting (often referred to as foster care) where they can be safe and thrive – sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently.

Foster parents are DCYF's major resource for children who need to be placed outside of their homes. Often foster parents are relative caregivers (sometimes called “kinship caregivers”) who have a prior relationship with the child or youth in their care. Sometimes children and youth are placed with adults in Rhode Island who get a license to serve as foster parents.

The goal of foster care is to safely reunite children with their birth families whenever possible. When reunification is not possible, DCYF works with its partner agencies to match a child with an adoptive family. Many children who are adopted from foster care find their “forever families” in the homes of their foster parents.

We often refer to our foster and adoptive families as “resource families”.

Community Partners

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