How Long Does it Take to Be a Foster Parent?

Are you ready to become a foster parent?

If so, that’s amazing — foster care gives children in need the chance to thrive in a loving and caring home! 

Before you’re matched with a child, you’ll have to go through the foster care licensing process. But don’t worry — we are here to help answer your questions about the process.

We have the answer below, along with some other important things to know about becoming a foster parent. 

How Long Does It Take To Be a Foster Parent?

The short answer is that it takes around 3-6 months to become a foster parent.

But, this is a general answer — it could be shorter or longer based on the state you’re in, the group you partner with, and other things. The different steps in the process also all have things that can affect the timeline.

For example, home studies are needed for the foster care process. If there are a lot of home studies in front of yours without enough people to do them, you will have to wait until someone can do yours.

Speaking of steps, let’s look into the foster care process.

Steps to Get Licensed: What is the Foster Care Process?

The foster care process includes many steps — all of them in place to make sure that a child in care is well looked after. 

Though the steps may vary from state to state, in general, here’s what happens.

• Find a group in your state - The process begins with finding a group in your state that handles foster care. For example, Mentor Foster Care, a part of Sevita’s companies, provides foster care support throughout the United States.

• Complete an application - Applications vary by group, but in general, they’ll include things like references, income checks, a background check, and proof of age. This is all to make sure you meet the qualifications.

• Attend pre-service sessions - Becoming a foster parent may be overwhelming at first, but attending pre-service sessions can help. These are sessions that help new foster parents learn parenting skills, helping kids and teens with trauma, and more. 

• Complete a home study - Before you become a foster parent, you’ll need to complete a home study. This process looks into your home and ensures that it’s the right fit for a child in care. Home studies may also look at other parts of your life, such as your social life, relationships, routines, and more. 

• Wait for a match - The entire foster care process helps groups like Sevita find the right match for you! This part can take a little longer, but it helps to find the right fit between foster parent and child. 

How Can You Speed Up the Process?

By now, you might be curious what you can do to make the process go faster.

The truth is that there isn’t too much you can do to speed things up — the steps taken to become a foster parent are put in place to make sure that children get the best possible care.

However, there are a few things that you can do to stay on top of the steps as you move forward. Here are a few tips.

Schedule Background Checks ASAP

There are certain parts of the fostering process that can take more time. 

For example, background checks and fingerprinting.

If your group makes you book these yourself, try and get this done as early as possible — avoid putting it off! In some cases, it can take many weeks to come back. 

Have Your References On Hand 

In most states, you’ll need references during the application process. 

To make the process go as smoothly as possible, have your references ready early on. Give them a call, ask them if it’s okay to give them as a reference, and let them know they will likely get a call from a foster care group.

Having your references ready in advance can help keep the process simple. 

Try to Be Flexible With Your Home Study

The home study needed to become a foster parent can be one of the longer parts of the process.

While there isn’t much you can do to speed it up, you will need to try and be as flexible as possible with the times. Foster care groups may be very busy trying to do other home studies with no one ready to do yours. 

If possible, try to stay flexible — if they call you with short notice, try your best to make the appointment work. That can help speed up the process!

Get Answers To Your Foster Care Questions

When deciding to become a foster parent, no question is too big or too small.

Get answers specific to you and your life circumstances: Talk to a foster care expert for personalized insights, next steps, and what you can expect when starting the foster parenting process.

You don't need to be a superhero — just someone willing to provide the love and care a child needs.