Thinking of becoming a foster parent? Here are some ideas for where to start, in celebration of National Foster Care Month.
- The official National Foster Care Month site, from the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has lots of great information, is explicitly inclusive of LGBTQ foster parents, and additionally offers a guide for foster parents caring for LGBTQ youth.
- Raise a Child.US is focused on informing and supporting prospective foster parents. They offer a parent advocate program of personalized support to help prospective parents navigate the foster/adoption process with their partner agencies, a nationwide referral network, and numerous events and public education campaigns. They are also partnering with Huffington Post Gay Voices for the “Let Love Define Family” series that profiles adoptive and foster families. Here’s one post they did this month, featuring Mernie and Karen Meier of La Crescenta, California.
- HRC has a good overview of the steps involved in becoming a foster parent, along with tips on finding an LGBTQ-friendly agency, plus a list of agencies that have achieved all of the All Children – All Families Benchmarks of LGBT Cultural Competency.
- Want to know whether your state has laws that may restrict LGBTQ people from fostering? Check out the maps from the Movement Advancement Project and AdoptUSKids.
- If you want to talk with other foster parents, but don’t know any (or want to know more), you may want to explore both LGBTQ and foster parent groups: Family Equality Council has a list of LGBT parent groups around the country (although not all of the parents there are foster parents). The National Foster Parent Association has a list of state affiliates (although not all of the parents there are LGBTQ).
