Fostering, Adoption, Kinship Services
Foster care should be a temporary stop on the road to permanency. It is the place where the journey for a child or youth in need of a safe home begins – whether it leads back home, to kinship care or adoption.
Could you be a Foster Caregiver?
Foster caregivers provide safety, care and support for children or youth during a difficult time in their lives. Often this care and support is temporary, as children and youth do best with their immediate family; however, there are times when returning home is not possible, and caregivers can become adoptive parents. Family and Children’s Services of Renfrew County welcomes and encourages applications from all races, ethnicities and communities. Applicants can range from all demographics including single individuals, families with no children, families with children in or out or the home, retired or stay-at-home parents, and single parents.
Children and Youth in Need of Care
The children and youth we help come from diverse ethnic, cultural and religious family backgrounds. Each child is a unique individual with a unique set of needs. Children and youth come into care because of physical, sexual or emotional abuse; neglect or abandonment; or because of a lack of parental capacity. The process of coming into care is often traumatic and each child or youth copes differently. Some children and youth will have medical or developmental conditions that require special support. Family and Children’s Services provides ongoing help to each of our foster families.
How to Become a Foster Caregiver
- The first step is to contact us at 613-735-6866 to let us know you are interested in becoming a foster caregiver.
- One of our KARe team workers will then contact you to gather some basic information and arrange a meeting to collect more detailed information. We will thoroughly explain the application and approval process, answer any questions you might have, and determine your fit and readiness for this process.
- If it is determined that you are a good fit, you will be required to take specialized training called PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education). This is Ontario’s mandatory, standardized curriculum for applicants and consists of a minimum of 27 hours of training.
- We will then conduct a SAFE Assessment. SAFE (Structured Analysis Family Evaluation) is Ontario’s standardized home study format for all applicants. This process entails approximately 4-6 interviews and the implementation of assessment tools to determine your further eligibility, suitability and readiness to become a resource parent.
- Once you have completed PRIDE training and your SAFE assessment and have been recommended for approval, your home will then be “open” for placement. Your resource worker will support you on an ongoing basis as you work with Family and Children’s Services of Renfrew County.
- A placement in your home might occur quickly, or, in some cases, many weeks or months can go by without a match. If a placement request is viewed as a potential match to your home, you will be contacted to fully review the child/youth’s profile. Once the match is made, placement will occur.
Adoption Disclosure Registry
Individuals who want to get in touch with their birth relatives can add their names to Ontario’s Voluntary Adoption Disclosure Register. Please be advised that this is a passive registry, meaning no active search for birth family will be conducted if you register. If a birth family member has also registered, you will simply be provided with their contact information. The Adoption Disclosure Register is maintained by the Custodian of Adoption Information. There is no provision for any form of reunion or supportive adoption disclosure counselling. For more information regarding this service, please visit the serviceontario website or call 1-800-461-2156.
