Will Becoming a Foster Parent Require Training?

Foster to Adopt Texas

Anyone who has even become a parent or been responsible for children in any capacity has most likely at one time or another wished they could just have a training manual. Parenting and caring for children is no easy job and comes with a lot of unknowns.

Unfortunately, parenting does not come with a training manual or owners guide. While there are many how-to books on parenting, the best answers, solutions, and techniques will always depend so much on each individual child and the relationship you have with them as their caretaker.

Foster care is no different. There is no book on how to be the best foster parent that will apply to every foster home or a training manual that comes with each child who enters your home. At Benchmark Family Services, however, we do offer therapeutic foster care training in hopes to equip and educate the foster parents we work with as much as we possibly can.

Our training is comprehensive in a lot of the basics of foster care as well as the challenges that come with being a therapeutic foster parent. The parents we work with are always thankful for the training and support we offer as a therapeutic foster care agency.

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from prospective foster parents is how much training is required or available to become a foster parent. While the exact training requirements and specification will vary from state to state there are a number of standard training required for all foster parents.

When working with Benchmark Family Services, we will walk you through each step of required training as well as offer a wide range of additional resources and support. Let’s Take a look at what foster parent training in Kentucky may look like.

Foster Parent Training

Foster parent training starts with a process of certification. This certification process will allow you to become a certified foster parent in the state you are applying for.

Background Checks and References

This first stage of the process will be heavy in paperwork and one of the most important stages to be working with a foster care agency. We know paperwork can feel overwhelming to many who are applying, which is why we carefully and thoroughly walk you through all the required documents and ensure you have all your T’s crossed and I’s dotted.

Required paperwork will include:

  • background checks, such as FBI, state, and/or local.
  • Child Abuse Registry check.
  • Proof of employment.
  • References for prospective foster parents will be obtained during the training process.

Medical Clearance

Medical clearance must be obtained for all your household members. Why? This is simply a step to ensure you are physically able to care for the child or children you welcome into your home, as well as assure there are no major underlying health concerns within your household.

Medical Certification Classes

The first set of classes you will need to take to become a certified foster parent is CPR, First Aid, and bloodborne pathogen training. These training sessions are standard for anyone working with children in a professional setting and really would be helpful for all parents!

Pre-Service Training

Each state and Agency you work within will have a variety of training specific to being a foster parent required before you can be certified. In these training you will gain the knowledge you need and hopefully walk away feeling equipped to best serve and care for the children you will welcome into your home.

At Benchmark Family Services, we will train you in what it means to be a therapeutic foster parent and the unique skills required to care for the children our agency serves.

Home Safety Audit

A member of our Benchmark Services team will provide you and the state with a home safety audit. This will include a visit to your home to ensure your home is set up safely for the children you will care for. We aren’t looking for perfect homes and won’t judge you on your closet organization. We are looking at the overall safety, capacity, and condition of your home,

Supporting You in Training and Beyond

While we wish we could give you a one size fits all training manual on how to be the perfect foster parent, we all know that just doesn’t exist, and that’s okay. Our foster parent training is comprehensive and has proven to be successful in educating and equipping our awesome network of therapeutic foster parents.