How to Become a Foster Parent in North Carolina

It’s always a good time to consider becoming a foster parent, as an increasing number of children are in need of foster families.

What Does it Mean to Be a Foster Parent?

Omni Visions believes that every foster child deserves a home, and that the best way to serve children and youth is in a home-like environment where flexible services are available in the frequency, intensity and duration necessary for each child to succeed.

Ready to Become a Foster Parent?

Why Foster a Child?

At Omni Visions, we believe that every child deserves a safe, supportive home. There are thousands of foster children in North Carolina that need nurturing parents to help them develop, grow, and succeed.

Are You Eligible to Become a Foster Parent in NC?

The basic foster parent qualifications are as follows:

Omni Visions requires that you must be at least 25 years of age
You must have a stable home and income
You must maintain a drug-free environment
You must undergo a criminal background check and be fingerprinted

Re-licensure is required every two years. To renew your foster care license you must receive 20 hours of in-service training—10 hours of training each year.

Steps to Becoming a Foster Parent in North Carolina

Omni Visions process for becoming a foster parent involves a home assessment and mutual selection process that includes interviews and home visits. As well as completion of required training.

Fill out our form for a helpful staff member to walk you step-by-step through the licensing process.

Ready to Become a Foster Parent?

What is TIPS-MAPP?

TIPS-MAPP is an abbreviation for Trauma Informed Partnering for Safety and Permanence – Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting. It’s a 30-hour course (minimum) which informs participants about the child welfare system and the role of foster parents.

The course is also designed to help participants develop the skills necessary to become a successful foster parent, and to assess whether a parent or family is a good fit for becoming a foster family.

What is a Mutual Home Assessment?

Per North Carolina’s foster home licensing requirements, “the supervising agency shall conduct a mutual home assessment study of the foster home to determine if the home meets the requirements for licensing and is suitable for family foster care of children.”

There are five parts to a Mutual Home Assessment:

Family history on each applicant
An assessment of the twelve skills needed for foster parenting
An assessment of the space for accommodating each child
An assessment of the applicant’s ability to participate in shared parenting
An assessment of the applicant’s financial ability to be a foster care parent

A Mutual Home Assessment is designed to determine whether:

A prospective foster parent’s home meets requirements
To assure applicants are making an informed decision about fostering children
To identify areas or skills in which new foster parents need to improve.

As such, it is the key document in the foster home licensing process.

Once licensed by the NCDSS, you are able to consider and accept foster care placements.

Ready to Become a Foster Parent?

Support Services for North Carolina Foster Parents

After a child is placed in your home, you’ll continue to receive training, support, and guidance.

At Omni Visions, we provide our foster parents with an extensive array of support services, including 24/7 on-call resource coordinator support.

Can Foster Children be Adopted?

While the ultimate goal of most foster placements is to return the child to his or her birth family, as a practical matter, foster care is a step toward adoption, hence the term foster to adopt.

Are you Ready to Foster a Child?

If you are considering whether to foster a child, stop and ask yourself the following questions:

Do I have the time to care for a child and can I meet his/her physical, emotional and educational needs?
Do I have a support system—that is, family, friends, local community that will be there for me during difficult times?
Am I able to commit to a child short- or long-term, even if circumstances becoming challenging, and am I willing to advocate for my child (or children)?
Am I able to facilitate and encourage continued contact with people in the child’s life, including his or her birth family?

Want to become a foster parent?

If you’re interested in becoming a foster parent, we encourage you to complete our request form or to contact the Omni Visions office nearest your home.

Since 1991, Omni has specialized in providing training and support to caregivers so foster children can reach their fullest potential. Together we can provide a brighter future for our children.

Ready to Become a Foster Parent?