Out of Home Care
What is a Foster Home?
A foster home cares for a child or children, temporarily, who need a safe, stable and nurturing place to live when the parents/guardians are unable to meet the needs of the child/ren. The length of the child's stay in foster care is dependent upon the progress made by parents to address the problems that lead to placement. Foster parents become licensed after a thorough home study is completed. Home studies include criminal and other background checks, verification of good health, references, interviews with a social worker, and inspection of the physical layout of the home. To ensure that an individual or couple is well suited to providing foster care, an in-depth assessment of the applicants' history, parenting practices and/or expectations, supportive relationships, and employment are among the areas explored through interviews and questionnaires. Single people, unmarried couples, married couples, and LGBT+ couples are all able to be licensed as foster parents.
What is a Respite Home?
A respite home provides short-term care to a child or children on weekends, evenings, or as needed to give foster parents or birth parents a break. A respite provider becomes "approved" if, after criminal background checks and home visits have been completed, a social worker recommends approval. Respite homes are not eligible to provide ongoing foster care which requires a much more thorough and intensive study process. Licensed foster homes are able to provide respite without going through the respite certification process, however.
What is Kinship Care?
Kinship provides financial assistance to adults who are caring for child relatives or step-children. The adult caregiver is eligible for Kinship if they are the child's step-parent, brother, sister, step-brother, step-sister, first cousin, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, or any person of a preceding generation as denoted by the prefix of grand, great, or great-great, whether by blood or marriage or legal adoption, or the spouse of any person mentioned, even if the marriage is terminated by death or divorce. Approved Kinship relatives are eligible for a monthly Kinship grant, pending availability of funding, to assist in the care of the child(ren.)
Kinship Care Website
What is Mentor?
The Crawford County Mentoring Program is always looking for mentors! The program is designed to provide one-on-one guidance to youth who are in need of a positive role model. The goal is to provide at-risk youth with adult mentors who will help youth succeed. The mentor will develop a positive and trusting relationship with the youth in order to provide support, guidance, consistency, and stability. The mentor will give the individual attention to the youth while exposing the youth to new and positive experiences in order to enhance self-esteem, improve social skills, and encourage positive problem-solving skills.
Mentorship Brochure
For more information, please contact Crawford County Foster Care Coordinator, Jen Beers, at (608) 326-0248.