Foster Care Licensing

Foster Care is a protective service provided to families experiencing difficulties so severe that children must be removed from their homes for a period of time. Children are removed to ensure their physical and emotional safety.

Foster parents (sometimes called “resource families”) are DCYF's major resource for children who need to be placed outside the home. It is the role of resource families to offer a safe and stable home to these children while working with the agency to prepare them for their reunification with their parents.

Foster Care Licensing licenses foster families, kinship foster families (this is a family who the youth or child already knows), and private foster families (these are foster families who work with one of our community partner agencies). The Foster Care and Adoption Regulations for Licensure are a helpful resource for current and prospective foster families.

Contact our Licensing Specialist

Learn More About Becoming A Foster Parent