It is the policy of the Department of Health and Human Services to provide services, care, benefits, and assistance to all qualified persons without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, or political belief.
Orientation
View a brief online orientation for prospective North Carolina foster parents. You will receive a training certificate showing that you have viewed this orientation. Print/Download/Screenshot the certificate and bring it with you to a Foster Parent Informational Meeting.
Video
Watch “Foster Hope, Foster Love, Foster Families.” In this video, licensed foster parents discuss their reasons for becoming foster parents and the challenges and rewards of providing foster care. Jimmy Wayne, a county music star who spent time in foster care in North Carolina, narrates the video.
Licensure
North Carolina state law requires that all foster homes be licensed to care for children in their care. These licenses are issued by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services. Our agency helps potential foster parents navigate the licensing process and provide them with ongoing supervision and support after they are licensed. To be licensed to provide foster care individuals must meet many requirements, some of these include the following:
Foster parents must be at least 21 years old. There is no upper age limit.
Families must have adequate income to financially support themselves without relying on the foster care payment. The foster care payment is strictly a reimbursement for expenses related to providing room, board, and supervision to children in foster care.
Foster parents must be willing to participate in Shared Parenting, which means working with the families of children placed in your home if your supervising agency determines this is appropriate.
All applicants must participate in and complete 30 hours of training before they can be licensed.
[{"WidgetSkinID":108,"ComponentType":8,"FontFamily":"Poppins","FontVariant":"regular","FontColor":"","FontSize":0.00,"FontStyle":0,"TextAlignment":0,"ShadowColor":"","ShadowBlurRadius":0,"ShadowOffsetX":0,"ShadowOffsetY":0,"Capitalization":0,"HeaderMiscellaneousStyles1":"","HeaderMiscellaneousStyles2":"","HeaderMiscellaneousStyles3":"","BulletStyle":0,"BulletWidth":2.00,"BulletColor":"","LinkNormalColor":"#ffffff","LinkNormalUnderlined":false,"LinkNormalMiscellaneousStyles":"background-color: #007396;\nbox-shadow: 0px 10px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25);\nborder-radius: 5px;\ntext-transform: uppercase;\npadding: 0.5em 2em;\nwidth: fit-content;\nmargin: 1.75em auto 0 auto;\ntransition: all .3s ease-in-out;","LinkVisitedColor":"#ffffff","LinkVisitedMiscellaneousStyles":"background-color: #007396;","LinkHoverColor":"#ffffff","LinkHoverUnderlined":true,"LinkHoverMiscellaneousStyles":"background-color: #00536C;\npadding: 0.5em 3.5em;","LinkSelectedUnderlined":false,"ForceReadOnLinkToNewLine":false,"DisplayColumnSeparator":false,"ColumnSeparatorWidth":0.0000,"HoverBackgroundColor":"","HoverBackgroundGradientStartingColor":"","HoverBackgroundGradientEndingColor":"","HoverBackgroundGradientDirection":0,"HoverBackgroundGradientDegrees":0.0000000,"HoverBackgroundImageFileName":"","HoverBackgroundImagePositionXUseKeyword":true,"HoverBackgroundImagePositionXKeyword":0,"HoverBackgroundImagePositionX":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"HoverBackgroundImagePositionYUseKeyword":true,"HoverBackgroundImagePositionYKeyword":0,"HoverBackgroundImagePositionY":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"HoverBackgroundImageRepeat":0,"HoverBorderStyle":0,"HoverBorderWidth":0,"HoverBorderColor":"","HoverBorderSides":15,"SelectedBackgroundColor":"","SelectedBackgroundGradientStartingColor":"","SelectedBackgroundGradientEndingColor":"","SelectedBackgroundGradientDirection":0,"SelectedBackgroundGradientDegrees":0.0000000,"SelectedBackgroundImageFileName":"","SelectedBackgroundImagePositionXUseKeyword":true,"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionXKeyword":0,"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionX":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionYUseKeyword":true,"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionYKeyword":0,"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionY":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"SelectedBackgroundImageRepeat":0,"SelectedBorderStyle":0,"SelectedBorderWidth":0,"SelectedBorderColor":"","SelectedBorderSides":15,"HoverFontFamily":"","HoverFontVariant":"","HoverFontColor":"","HoverFontSize":0.00,"HoverFontStyle":0,"HoverTextAlignment":0,"HoverShadowColor":"","HoverShadowBlurRadius":0,"HoverShadowOffsetX":0,"HoverShadowOffsetY":0,"HoverCapitalization":0,"SelectedFontFamily":"","SelectedFontVariant":"","SelectedFontColor":"","SelectedFontSize":0.00,"SelectedFontStyle":0,"SelectedShadowColor":"","SelectedShadowBlurRadius":0,"SelectedShadowOffsetX":0,"SelectedShadowOffsetY":0,"SpaceBetweenTabs":0,"SpaceBetweenTabsUnits":"","Trigger":1,"AnimationId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","AnimationClass":"animation00000000000000000000000000000000","ScrollOffset":33,"TriggerNameLowerCase":"hover","ParentComponentWithTrigger":null,"BackgroundColor":"","BackgroundGradientStartingColor":"","BackgroundGradientEndingColor":"","BackgroundGradientDirection":0,"BackgroundGradientDegrees":0.0000000,"BackgroundImageFileName":"","BackgroundImagePositionXUseKeyword":true,"BackgroundImagePositionXKeyword":0,"BackgroundImagePositionX":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"BackgroundImagePositionYUseKeyword":true,"BackgroundImagePositionYKeyword":0,"BackgroundImagePositionY":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"BackgroundImageRepeat":0,"BorderStyle":0,"BorderWidth":0,"BorderColor":"","BorderSides":15,"MarginTop":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"MarginRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"MarginBottom":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"MarginLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"PaddingTop":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"PaddingRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"PaddingBottom":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"PaddingLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"MiscellaneousStyles":"","RecordStatus":0}]