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Foster Care provides children with a temporary home when it is necessary to remove a child from his or her present home due to; the inability of a parent to ensure the health and safety of a child, neglect or abuse of a child by a caretaker, or placement by Delaware County Family Court for a Persons In Need of Supervision (PINS) or Juvenile Delinquency case.

Foster Care can be provided at many different levels of care which include: Traditional Family Foster Care, Agency Operated Family Homes or Residential Treatment Facilities. The custody of a child is transferred to the Commissioner of Social Services when a child is placed in foster care. The families needs are assessed and a variety of services are available to help develop a services plan to assist with the reunion of child to their birth family.

Examples of such services can include but are not limited to:

• Casework Counseling
• Permanency Planning
• Transportation
• Education
• Parent Education
• Mental Health Counseling
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling

Foster Parent Recruitment

Foster parents play an integral part in the lives of children-in-care and their families. Foster parents offer a safe, temporary, and loving home environment while encouraging children to maintain connections to their families and communities. Foster parents are required to attend training provided by Delaware County in the effort to gain knowledge and glean an understanding of the foster care system and the process that a child and their family are exposed to when a child is placed in care. The training also gives the foster family a good perception of the supportive role that foster parents provide when children are reunited with their birth families.

Concurrent planning is an essential piece of Delaware County’s Foster Parenting program; it is the effort to work toward reunification with a birth family while simultaneously establishing an alternative permanency plan if a child is unable to be reunited with his or her birth family.

To learn more about becoming a foster parent please contact the home finding unit at 607-832-5300.

Delaware County Department of Social Services