Could YOU Foster?
Become a Centre County Foster Parent with Our Help
Centre County Children need YOU!
Foster care is a service that provides day-to-day attention to children’s needs while they reside in an approved family setting. Foster parents play a vital role in the lives of foster children and their families.
The Basic Purposes of Foster Care Are:
- To provide a safe, nurturing environment which promotes the child’s maximum growth and development.
- To work toward the achievement of a permanency goal for the child.
Children needing foster care placements are often siblings, who need to be placed together, are of any race and religion, and are of every age from birth to young adulthood.
Children who need foster care have experienced some form of trauma that may include physical, mental, sexual abuse, or neglect. Foster care is provided to a child when the child’s family is unable or unwilling to meet their needs to keep them safe.
Foster parents are people like YOU! People who are genuinely concerned about the welfare of children and families in Centre County.
A Centre County foster parent needs to be willing to take on the challenges and responsibilities that would be expected of any parent. Some characteristics of people who would make good foster parents include:
- Enjoys children and will advocate for them.
- Ability to handle change and manage stress.
- A team player willing to work with agency staff, community services, and the birth parents/family, as needed.
- Have family, friends, or other support systems you can rely on.
You can:
- Be single, married, divorced, or in a relationship
- Have children
- Own or rent your residence
- Have a modest income
- Be a working parent
Foster parents provide stability to a child by providing the daily basics: food, clothing, shelter, love, and guidance that every child needs to feel safe and secure. As a foster parent, you will be given a Medical Assistance/Access Plus card for the child you are caring for.
Foster parents work in partnership with Centre County Children and Youth Services and other service providers to help children and families.
- Applicants must reside in Centre County.
- Applicants must be age 21 or older.
- Applicants must be financially stable and not have their income dependent on food stamps or public assistance.
- Applicants must not have negative prior involvement with CYS.
- Applicants must not have a history of serious mental health problems, drug/alcohol abuse, criminal activities, or child abuse.
- Criminal record check at local, state, and FBI level.
- Child abuse history check.
- Medical Exam.
- Positive reference letters, e.g., personal, employment, etc.
- Home must meet Department of Human Services safety regulations.
- Complete mandatory trainings.
*Comprehensive Training
*Compensation
*Support Through Our Mentor Program
Centre County Children need Centre County homes. Share your heart, open your home, and change a life! If you have room in your heart and room in your home, please consider becoming a foster parent. For more information, please call Centre County Children and Youth Services at (814) 355-6755 or www.fostercentrecounty.com
A Foster Home Recruiter will contact you and explain the foster care process, answer your questions, and go over the application process. If you decide to pursue becoming a foster parent, you will participate in a home study, which the Foster Home Recruiter will help you complete. You will also be required to complete a 7-week training course to help prepare you for becoming a foster parent.
Mission Statement
Centre County Children and Youth Services is the agency within the Centre County government which is responsible for the operations of children and youth programs. It is guided and constrained in its functions and services by federal, state, and local statutes and regulations. Foster care is viewed as a partnership between the agency and foster parents towards meeting the needs of a child while they are living away from their own family.
The goal of Centre County Children and Youth Services is to work cooperatively with foster parents and the child’s own family to develop a plan to meet the child’s needs and to reunite the child with their own family whenever possible.
Centre County Children and Youth Services does not exclude, deny benefits to or otherwise discriminate against any person on the grounds of race (to include hair type, hair texture, or hair style), color, age (age 40 and over), sex (to include pregnancy status, childbirth status, breastfeeding status, sex assigned at birth, gender identity or expression, affectional or sexual orientation, differences in sex development), ancestry, national origin (including Limited English Proficiency), religious creed (to include all aspects of religious observances and practice, as well as a belief), disability, and retaliation.