Washington state foster care program

Service The Extended Foster Care program provides an opportunity for young adults who were a dependent of Washington State at age 18, to voluntarily agree to continue receiving foster care services, including placement services, while working on their goals towards independence. Services may include: Foster Care placement or Supervised Independent living setting placement shared living, apartment, college dormitory Medical including mental health Dental Transitional Living services if available Case management by DCYF Referrals to community resources as appropriate See independence.

How to Apply To be a part of this program, talk to your worker or call Eligible youth who do not elect to participate in the Extended Foster Care program on their 18th birthday will have until their 21st birthday to voluntarily request to participate in the Extended Foster Care program. Eligible youth may enter and exit the program as needed between the ages of years old.

To be eligible for the Extended Foster Care program, youth must meet the following criteria on their 18th birthday:. Continued participation in Extended Foster Care is subject to continuing eligibility in one of the five categories listed above. Children enter foster care through no fault of their own. However, children or youth who have faced trauma sometimes have learned behaviors to keep themselves safe, or to meet their needs in other ways. Foster parents offer a loving and nurturing home where each child can feel safe and is celebrated for his or her unique gifts.

When you become a foster parent, you become part of a team that is dedicated to protecting children, supporting families, and helping young people develop their fullest potential. Foster care is all about teamwork. Foster care is designed to be a temporary living situation for children and youth who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or the death of their caregivers. A safe return home is the primary goal.

Foster families take children into their homes and hearts, creating a safe and secure place to grow until reunification. For some children, an alternative permanent home must be found.

Go to our training page for more information. DCYF values our kinship and licensed caregivers and all they do to support the health, safety, and wellbeing of the children in their care. We are committed to actively supporting both prospective and current caregivers. Unfortunately due to COVID impacts, DCYF is currently in between service providers who would traditionally be able to provide individual support and guidance to caregivers.

We are hoping this can be resolved soon and there will only be a temporary gap in services available. However, we are still here for you! Our offices are fully operational and staff will do their best to assist you with any questions or concerns. Sign up for Caregiver Connection email service. Go to the Employee Directory. A child may live with you for a few days, several months, or a year or more. The Court decides when a child will be reunited, or placed through another permanent plan.

DCYF makes every effort to reunite parents and children. DCYF prioritizes placement of children with their relatives whenever possible; you may have a child placed with you while we continue to search for a relative family. Many foster parents grow close to the children placed in their care. When a child leaves your home, it can be hard on the entire foster family. If relatives have not been found who can adopt the child, we will ask if the foster parents would want to adopt the child ren.

Foster parents can - and many do, adopt children that come into their lives through the foster care program. While foster parents must have a regular source of income to meet their families' needs, financial assistance is available to help with the costs of caring for a foster child.

Foster care maintenance payments are intended to assist licensed foster parents in meeting the needs of the foster child in their care. A basic rate payment Level 1 is paid to all foster parents for costs related to food, clothing, shelter, and personal incidentals.

In addition, there are three levels of supplemental payments Levels 2, 3 and 4 which are paid to foster parents who care for children with varying degrees of physical, mental, behavioral or emotional conditions that require increased effort, care or supervision that are above the needs of a typically developing child.

If the family is a two parent caregiver family, child care is covered when both parents are employed and working out of the home simultaneously leaving no caregiver at home to care for the child. Examples of an exceptional need include:. Exceptional clothing needs can be approved if there is no other local community resources available and the need cannot be met through the clothing allowance provided in the monthly foster care payment for those licensed.

See above.