Foster care is a social service program where families open their homes for a child to live until it is safe for the child to go home or other plans for permanency are made. Foster care is a temporary placement for a child.
Foster parents provide care for children who are removed from their homes for specific reasons such as abuse or neglect. Foster parents serve as temporary parents to a child or children placed in their home. Foster parents love and nurture the children and provide for their basic needs of food, shelter, clothing, and safety. Foster parents help the children maintain their social and cultural connections and customs.
Both couples and single persons can become foster parents if you are in good general health, have enough income to adequately support the people currently living in your home, consent to a criminal background check, citizen of a federally recognized tribe, have adequate room in your home for an additional child or children, attend training for foster parents, and most importantly are willing to work as a part of a team to meet the needs of any child placed in your home.
Cherokee Nation requires foster parents to be at least 21 years of age before applying for foster care certification. Cherokee Nation welcomes foster families of all age groups. Cherokee Nation encourages elders in good health to become foster families and be a positive force in our Foster Care Program.
No, foster parents can be single, married, widowed or divorced. What's important is that you are able to give a child the love, care and respect they deserve.
The first step is to contact the Cherokee Nation child welfare office and let us know you are interested! You may contact us at the numbers listed on this website under contact us. Once you call, the foster care program will assign a worker to your case to assist you with the documentation and do a home study. Your worker will contact you to schedule the first home in order to meet with you and your family.
A home study is a document developed from the information you have given to Cherokee Nation through your application, home visits, interviews, and references. This document gives our workers greater insight into the types of children that you can care for in your home. Your home study will identify your strengths and tell us how many children your home will accommodate, what gender would be most acceptable and with what ages you are willing to work.
