Foster Care
Foster Care is a federal and state mandated program that is administered under HFS 56 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code. Foster Care is designed to provide temporary placement for children when their parents cannot care for them.
When children must be removed from their home, for their own safety, they are placed in a foster home. Most children are placed due to abuse, neglect or extreme cases of behavioral problems. Foster parents are recruited and trained to provide for the needs of these children, and most of all to nurture them as individuals.
Foster parents work with the Department Social Workers and a wide array of service providers to improve the quality of life for the children in their care. In addition, foster parents assist with the reunification process by partnering with the birth family and extended family members.
In relationship to the Kinship Care program, a relative means an adult who is the child’s step-parent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, brother-in law, sister-in-law, first cousin, second cousin, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, step-uncle, step-aunt, or any person of a proceeding generation as denoted by the prefix of grand, great or great-great, whether by blood, marriage or legal adoption, or the spouse of any person named in this subsection, even if the marriage is terminated by death or divorce.
Two Types of Kinship Care
- Voluntary-refers to an arrangement between a parent and a relative for the care of a child without involvement by the child welfare system.
- Court Ordered-refers to a situation in which Juvenile Court has ordered a child to be placed in the care of a relative. In these instances, the relative caregiver is required to obtain a foster care license to continue receiving Kinship Care benefits.
To become a foster parent or kinship care provider, please contact the foster care coordinator at: 715-284-4301.
Related Links:
Foster Care: https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/fostercare/parent
Kinship Care: https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/kinship
Foster Parent Handbook: https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/fostercare/handbook
DCF Administrative Licensing Code: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/dcf/021_099/56
Preplacement Training:https://wcwpds.wisc.edu/foster-parent-training/foster-parent-pre-placement/