Getting Started in Philadelphia Foster Care

A Primer to Philadelphia Foster Care

New to Foster Care

My wife and I first became foster parents in Philadelphia earlier this year. Our journey started over two years ago when staff from a local foster care agency, Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM), in Northeast Philadelphia, gave an introductory training and Q&A at our church. After that initial exposure, we were pretty sure we wanted to be a part of foster care in Philly. However, between hectic work and home schedules weren’t quite in the right place to get started.

We have two biological girls of our own under age 4 and earlier this year knew we were ready to accommodate a third. The entire process took us about 6 months, but most of that time was waiting until July when my work schedule was going to lighten up significantly. We were eager to get started, and wanted to get everything in order so we could start as soon as July came.

Getting Certified

We started out by looking for a foster care agency. Knowing little about the system in Philly, we simply looked for an agency close to where we lived. As it turns out, APM was actually the closest agency to where we lived, so we contacted them to schedule a training.

Our initial training was only 1 day. At our training, the staff went over what foster care would look like. They discussed the agency policies and how to best care for the children we would have in our home. We received a wide variety of packets and pamphlets with information and started to go about sorting through it all.

At our training, we also received a list of required documents and clearances we would need to be certified. Once we got home, we got right to work gathering insurance documents, asking friends for references, and applying for government clearances.

Getting it All Together

How hard could it be, right? Just check off all the checkboxes. Well, it actually took quite a bit of organization and trial and error. For example, when I first applied for by PA criminal background check, I applied as a volunteer. As I later learned, foster parents are not considered volunteers in PA. However, it wasn’t until our completed file was being reviewed that I learned we would need to reapply for clearances.

We also learned when applying for child abuse clearance that we would need clearance from the last state we had lived in as well. It took almost 2 months to get the second clearance. Fortunately we had started early!

Once everything was submitted and complete, we waited for APM’s monthly review meeting where they review the new parent applications. When we heard that everything looked good, we were finally scheduled for a home study where a resource parent support worker came to our house to make sure we met the list of home requirements – a list that is really quite reasonable.

Finally, with everything completed, APM submitted our file to DHS for final certification. It was only a week or two before our resource parent support worker notified us we were finally certified!

Both of us would consider ourselves organized, but we still found ourselves confused at times. There is just a lot of information to digest at once! Our experience is the main reason for our Philadelphia Foster Care Certification Guide which walks through every step of the process in detail.

To hear more, check out our post on our first foster care placement.

If you are interested in getting started with foster care in Philadelphia (or anywhere), check out our guide. You can also see all of our guides on the Foster Care Guide page.

See Other Blog Posts

Best Foster Care Blogs of 2020

Best Foster Care Blogs of 2020

Foster care is not a solo experience. Anyone who has fostered knows that every week (and sometimes every day) can bring up many questions and doubts. With that in mind, we’ve gathered together some of the best foster care blogs of 2020.

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Fostering Infants and Babies

Fostering Infants and Babies

New and potential foster parents often ask about fostering babies. Are there many newborns that need homes in Philadelphia? Can I choose to only accept infants? Is it possible to adopt babies from foster care? In this post, we’ll attempt to answer some of these questions for foster parents interested in caring for little ones.

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Best Foster Care Blogs of 2020

Best Foster Care Blogs of 2020

Foster care is not a solo experience. Anyone who has fostered knows that every week (and sometimes every day) can bring up many questions and doubts. With that in mind, we’ve gathered together some of the best foster care blogs of 2020.

read more
Fostering Infants and Babies

Fostering Infants and Babies

New and potential foster parents often ask about fostering babies. Are there many newborns that need homes in Philadelphia? Can I choose to only accept infants? Is it possible to adopt babies from foster care? In this post, we’ll attempt to answer some of these questions for foster parents interested in caring for little ones.

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Our First Foster Care Placement

Our First Foster Care Placement

We had only been certified as foster parents in Philadelphia for 2 days when we got our first foster care placement. It turns out that is not too uncommon – there is a great need for foster parents in Philly. It was around 8pm and our two girls were already in bed. A caseworker at a local hospital called and told us she had a newborn in need of a home.

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Learn More About Foster Care

The following guides can help get you up to speed on several important aspects of foster care in Philadelphia.

Finances

Learn about financial support available for foster parents.

Healthcare

Learn about healthcare topics such as doctors visits and insurance.

The Legal System

Learn about family court, hearings, and child custody.

Caseworkers and Visits

Learn about the different types of caseworkers, home visits, and parent visits.

New Placements

Learn about what to ask when receiving a new placement and the first week in care

School and Daycare

Learn more about education, school, and daycare.

Adoption and Permanency

Learn about foster care, adoption, and foster-to-adopt.

Foster Care Policies

Learn about policies like travel and babysitters