Become a Foster or Adoptive Parent

We look forward to matching you with one of our foster care agencies located within the five boroughs who will provide you with critical information, guidance and support throughout the process.

Foster Parent Certification Process

Attend an Orientation and Complete the Application

The orientation for prospective foster parents offers an in-depth explanation of foster care and what being foster parent involves. Interested parents can complete and return an application to start the process.

Once the agency approves your application, they will contact you to begin the certification process, which includes the following steps.

Training

To become a foster parent, all prospective applicants must complete 30 hours of National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC) with Trauma Responsive Informed Parenting Program (TRIPP) principles pre-service training, and 12 hours of TRIPP during the first year of fostering.

• National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC) for foster and adoptive parents is comprehensive training that includes intensive preparation and development components that reflect the capacities required of foster and adoptive parents. NTDC tackles separation, loss, grief, trauma, and differences of race and culture in adoption and foster care. The training helps a caregiver determine their own capacity to parent and/or explore additional supports, resources, or training needed to gain the capacity to parent. NTDC prepares caregivers by increasing their knowledge and ability to understand and respond to the unique needs of children placed in their care, how crucial TRIPP principles are for prospective foster and adoptive parents, and how to incorporate those into their caregiving.
• Trauma Responsive Informed Parenting Program (TRIPP) is a learning program designed to prepare and support foster parents who are either parenting or working with children with therapeutic needs. TRIPP helps participants gain a trauma informed lens when caring for children who have significant emotional and behavioral needs. TRIPP allows participants to practice examining and reinterpreting the behavior of children, to appropriately respond to their underlying thoughts, feelings and needs, rather than react to their behavior.

Medical Clearance

• Each member of the prospective foster family household must be in good physical and mental health and free from communicable diseases. A written, physician's report on the health of a family, including a complete physical examination of the applicant, must be filed with the agency initially and biennially thereafter.

Background Check

• All adults (age 18 and older) who live in the prospective foster family's home must be fingerprinted and cleared through the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the State Central Register for Abuse and Neglect (SCR).

Home Study

• The home study is the process by which a foster care agency with responsibility for placing children in out-of-home care and supervising those placements ensures through a careful and thorough assessment of personal characteristics and home environment that a foster parent can provide a safe and nurturing home for a child/ren that requires out-of-home care. The assessment of the prospective foster family is done through a series of meetings, interviews, and training sessions and takes approximately four months to complete.

Successful completion of these steps is required for foster parent certification. Once certified, foster parents will receive on-going support and guidance from the foster care agency.

A Child is Placed in Your Home

Once you are a certified foster/adoptive parent, your Agency can place foster children in your home. Before a child is placed in your home, the caseworker will tell you about visitation schedules with parents and siblings and give you information that will help you provide the best care for the child. If the match is right, the child will be placed with you on either a short-term or longer-term basis.

If the child you are caring for becomes available for adoption, your family can apply to adopt the child(ren).

Adopting a Child

If you wish only to adopt a child, without becoming certified as a foster parent, the steps are as follows:

1. Select one of the many foster care provider agencies
2. Submit an application to adopt
3. Complete the adoption only Homestudy
4. Match with a child or sibling group from those who are waiting for a permanent family - The New York State Family Album database is a good way to begin your search. Once a match is made, you and the child can begin visiting each other.
5. Child is placed in your home for a pre-adoptive period of time
6. File the Adoption Petition with an adoption attorney. It will take approximately six to eight months, and in some cases longer, before the adoption can be finalized. The agency will remain involved with both you and the child during this time.
7. Finalize the Adoption in Family Court - When the Family Court judge approves the adoption, you and your child will go to court to sign the final adoption papers.

LGBTQIA+ Affirming Foster and Adoptive Families

Affirming families are those that welcome all LGBTQIA+ young people and encourage them to be themselves in all parts of family life, where all children are treated with dignity and respect, and where parents work to meet their children's individual needs.
You do not need to identify as LGBTQIA+ yourself to be an affirming family for an LGBTQ youth!

Learn more about LGBTQIA+ Affirming Policies