Frequently Asked Questions About Foster Care

No. Many foster parents do not have prior parenting experience. What matters most is your ability to provide a safe, stable, and supportive home and your willingness to learn. Training, guidance, and ongoing support are provided to help you grow into the role.

The timeline varies for each family. The process includes training, a home study, and certification, but it is not a race. You can move through each step at a pace that feels comfortable for you, with support along the way. Some families complete the process in as little as 45 days, while others take closer to six months. On average, most families complete the licensing process in about three months.

Children of all ages enter foster care, including infants, school-aged children, teens, sibling groups, and children with medical, emotional, or behavioral needs. Foster parents can share preferences about the ages and needs they feel best prepared to support. 

Yes. All foster parents complete required pre-service training focused on trauma-informed care. Training is paced by you and designed to help you understand child behavior, build trust, and feel prepared before a placement occurs.

When there is a referral for your home, we provide child-specific information and guidance to help you prepare. Our team meets with you prior to placement to talk through the child’s needs, answer questions, and ensure you feel informed and supported before making any decisions.

Foster parents receive ongoing support from a dedicated caseworker, including one-on-one guidance, 24/7 on-call support, help coordinating services, and access to clinical and professional resources. You are never expected to navigate foster care alone.

Caseworkers visit foster homes weekly or biweekly, depending on the child’s needs. When a first placement arrives, our team is available to be in the home as often as needed to provide support and guidance during the adjustment period.

Impact Living Services builds dedicated support hours into our programming, allowing our caseworkers to maintain lower caseloads than many other LCPAs. This structure gives us the flexibility to provide responsive, hands-on support and attend medical and other appointments when helpful. Our goal is to ensure foster parents and children feel supported, informed, and confident every step of the way.

In many cases, yes. Foster care supports permanency, and reunification with a child’s birth family is often the goal. Foster parents may assist with this process in ways approved by the Department of Social Services, such as transporting a child to visits, supporting phone or video calls, or sharing updates on school and activities important to the child.

It is entirely normal to feel unsure or nervous. These relationships are guided and supported by professionals, with clear expectations in place. Your caseworker will help prepare you, support communication, and ensure interactions are appropriate and focused on the child’s needs.

Foster care is a team effort. You are not expected to manage these relationships on your own, and collaboration always centers on helping the child feel safe, supported, and surrounded by adults working together in the child’s best interest.

Yes. Foster parents receive a monthly room-and-board stipend once a child is placed to help cover daily needs, such as food, clothing, and personal items. Children placed in foster care also receive health insurance coverage, ensuring access to medical care, mental health services, and therapeutic supports as needed.

In addition, foster parents may be eligible for VEMAT (Virginia Enhanced Maintenance Assessment Tool) funding. VEMAT helps offset additional expenses related to a child’s specific needs that the standard room-and-board stipend may not fully cover. These supports are determined based on the child’s needs and are intended to ensure foster families have the resources necessary to provide appropriate care.

Our team works closely with foster parents to help them understand available financial supports and navigate the process so that financial concerns do not become a barrier to meeting a child’s needs.

If reunification with a child’s birth family cannot safely occur, the goal becomes helping the child achieve permanency in another way. This may include placement with relatives, fictive kin, or adoption. Permanency means having a lasting sense of belonging and stability.

That’s okay. Asking questions, attending an info session, or starting the process does not obligate you to continue. Our role is to provide information and support so you can make the decision that feels right for you.

If you decide that becoming a foster parent isn’t the right fit right now, there are still meaningful ways to support children in foster care. We invite you to explore our blog to learn more about other ways to get involved, support foster families, and make a difference.

Treatment Foster Care (TFC) is foster care with extra support. Children who have experienced trauma live with specially trained foster parents, and both the child and family receive ongoing guidance from a team of professionals. The goal is to help children identify coping skills and receive the support they need as they work toward their permanency goals.  

Kinship care and foster care both provide safe homes for children, but the biggest difference is the relationship to the child.

Kinship care means a child is living with someone they already know and trust. This may be a relative, such as a grandparent, aunt, or adult sibling, or a close family friend (often called fictive kin). There are several types of kinship care:

• Informal kinship care: A child lives with a trusted adult without court or child welfare involvement. Families often make this decision on their own during a difficult time.

• Safety plan or prevention kinship care: When Child Protective Services (CPS) is involved, a child may stay with a relative or trusted adult as part of a safety plan while parents work on addressing concerns. These placements are usually temporary and focused on keeping children connected to their families.

• Licensed kinship foster care: Some kinship caregivers choose to become licensed foster parents. They complete training and a home study so they can receive additional support, services, and financial assistance.

Each type of kinship care may include different levels of services, funding, and support.

Foster care, on the other hand, typically involves families who do not know the child before placement. Foster parents are trained and licensed to provide a safe, nurturing home for children while their families work toward stability and permanency.

Both kinship and foster families play an important role in helping children feel safe, supported, and connected as they move toward a permanent and stable future.

A home visit is a scheduled time for your case manager to connect with you and the child in your home. Visits are planned around your family’s schedule so that the child is also available. The goal is to provide support, answer questions, and make sure everyone feels confident and cared for.

During a home visit, the case manager will:

• Spend time with the foster parent and child together

• Meet with the child individually in an age-appropriate way

• Check in about how things are going at home, school, and in the community

• Review any paperwork or updates, such as doctor visits, dental appointments, or school information

• Provide coaching and guidance on strategies you are using, and introduce new ideas if needed

When speaking with children, the conversation is tailored to their age and understanding. For younger children, this may look like simple questions about how they are feeling, whether they feel safe, and if there is anything they want help with. For teens, it may include more in-depth conversations about goals, challenges, and supports.

Home visits also include:

• Updates on the child’s case and permanency plan
• Planning for upcoming appointments or meetings
• Celebrating the child’s progress and successes

Most home visits last about one to two hours, depending on what needs to be covered. Visits are more frequent when a child first moves into your home—typically at least weekly—so you have strong support during the transition. As everyone becomes more comfortable and stable, visits may move to about twice a month, depending on the child’s needs and level of care.

These visits are not about judging or inspecting your home. They are about partnership, encouragement, and making sure you and the child feel supported every step of the way.