Foster Care & Therapeutic Foster Care
W.E.B. DuBois Community Development Corporation (CDC) has been approved by the State of North Carolina to license and supervise families who provide therapeutic foster care for children. We are actively seeking families who are interested in making a difference in the lives of children by becoming foster parents under the guidance of the staff of W.E.B. Dubois CDC.
Wake County's website expresses it eloquently "Becoming a foster or adoptive parent will change your life and the life of a child. Maybe not at first, but as months and years pass, both will be affected. And, someday, when you are older and wonder if you've made a difference, here's what that child will know:
- Now an adult, he has a life with a little more purpose and a lot more love.
- She would never have experienced an alternate "safe family" except that you chose to be a foster parent.
- He has a job and pays the bills, because you taught him how to work.
- She completed school, because you made sure the homework was done.
- That family is treated with respect, because you modeled dignity.
Being a foster parent is an opportunity to make a difference in a young person's life. We are seeking therapeutic foster care parents and individuals to provide regular foster care. Therapeutic foster care parents are individuals who are willing to work with children who have additional needs for support and help with managing issues and challenges they face in life.
Requirements for Licensure
The licensure process requires a commitment of time and energy. There are stringent requirements that have been developed to assure that foster parents can guarantee the safety, permanence, and well-being of the children they work with. Among the things that will occur during the licensure process will be:
- several interviews
- background check
- in-home inspections
- up to 40 hours of training on effective foster parenting practices.
W.E.B. DuBois CDC staff will work with you during this process to make sure that the requirements are met. After the completion of this process, if both you and the W.E.B. DuBois CDC staff believe that becoming a foster care parent is right for you and for the children, you will serve and an application for licensure will be filed on your behalf. The initial process can take 30-45 days. Once W.E.B. DuBois CDC staff has filed an application for licensure, it may take an additional 4 months before the license is granted. When you receive your license W.E.B. DuBois CDC is ready to begin placing children in your home. Please note that foster care is not intended to be an individual's primary source of income. All foster parents must have an additional source of income.
What Happens Next?
W.E.B. DuBois CDC staff will work with other agencies in Wake County who are looking for placements for children in need. W.E.B. DuBois CDC staff will immediately help to match the children and their needs, with foster parents, who are available. There are strict limitations about the total number of children who can be in a home. In no instance can there be more than 4 children in the home. For foster care placements there needs to be a separate bedroom available for the foster child. The pace of placements will be limited to assure that the children have settled into the new home environment. There is a limit of 2 children who can be in therapeutic foster care at any one time.
If I Am Interested, What Do I Do?
