Services
Foster Care FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Foster care is the temporary placement of children outside of their own homes. It occurs because of parenting issues, abuse, neglect or other family problems.
When a Juvenile Court Judge determines that a child cannot return to their home, then alternative placement is researched. The law requires that the Court uses the “least restrictive placement” possible. Relatives are considered first, followed by traditional foster care, then treatment or therapeutic foster care.
The goal of most foster placements is to resolve problems and to return the child home.
Treatment or therapeutic foster care is a step above traditional foster care.
The children serviced in therapeutic care all have complex trauma or a mental health diagnosis and are receiving additional services such as counseling, medication or case management. Many children in therapeutic foster care simply need more support and services than can be provided in traditional foster care.
Therapeutic foster care focuses on helping children reach their goals and transition back to their family or find other permanent placements such as adoption or independent living.
Many kinds of children need treatment in foster homes. The children who currently need homes the most are:
- African-American adolescents
- Caucasian adolescents
- Hispanic children
- Teenage mothers and their babies
- Children with special medical needs
- Siblings who need to stay together
- Babies born with drugs in their system
We serve children from birth to 21 years old. Typically, most of our children are in the pre-teen to teenage range.
All foster children have experienced the trauma of being separated from their caregivers. Some children have suffered additional trauma from instability, neglect, or abuse. Foster parents have the life changing ability to provide safe, loving environments where children can heal and learn to thrive.
Omni will provide therapeutic training to help foster parents learn how to effectively parent children who have experienced trauma.
You can complete a request for information here or call a local office to express your interest in becoming a foster parent.
Our staff are eager to talk to you and help you through the process. Our knowledgeable staff are here to answer any questions you may have and to work alongside you to determine if fostering if right for you and your family. Staff will get you signed up for training classes, come visit your home, and begin working on a home study. We will try to prepare you for your role as a foster parent, while also getting to know you and your family.
The licensure process includes background checks, drug screens, paperwork, a phyiscal, home study, and references. We will also help determine if you have space for a child or children and address any safety concerns at your home and property.
Our staff want to help prepare you for fostering and set you up to be successful in working with children
Generally, it depends on how efficiently you complete and submit the requirements. On average, it takes approximately four months to complete the process.
We cannot guarantee a specific date or time frame for placing a child in your home. A lot of factors affect placement such as a child needing a specific school district, race/religion preference, needing a two-parent home vs. a single parent, ability to be placed with other children, etc. Also, your own preferences may affect wait time.
The more open to behaviors, ages and differences you are, as well as your demonstration of therapeutic skills, the sooner you may get a placement. However, all parties involved must agree that this will be a good match. Please be patient with this process.
First and foremost, this not a solo effort. You will be joining a team to help you with the child placed in your care. You will be assigned a resource coordinator to provide support, guidance and assistance. In addition, Omni offers 24/7 on-call support and monthly training sessions to help you build your knowledge base and skill sets.
- Financial Assistance: Therapeutic foster parents receive a monthly reimbursement to cover the child’s food, housing, clothing, transportation, personal allowance and treatment needs of the youth. Each state has levels of care, meaning the level of service the child is expected to need while in the program. Each level has its own foster parent per diem. The higher the level of treatment needed reflects a higher per diem.
- Medical Care: Most foster children get a medical card from the state, which guarantees payment for all necessary medical care and preventive medicine. We will help you select a physician for a child placed with you. The medical card is also accepted by many hospitals and for approved prescriptions. You should not pay any medical bills directly.
- Educational Services: Foster children go to regular public schools. An Omni staff person will assist with school liaison and assessment of educational needs.
- Personal Support: Omni and your supervising child’s referring agency caseworker are responsible for supporting your family on a daily basis. Each agency, including Omni Family of Services, has developed internal support, which includes foster parent support groups, after-hours telephone numbers, and community resources.
No. You can rent your home or apartment. If you rent, you are required to have renter’s insurance.
No. A foster child can share a room with your children or other foster children of the same sex. Each child must have a bed of his or her own.
No. A lot of therapeutic foster parents are single. However, if you are married or living with a partner both will need to complete all licensure requirements and complete all training.
In most cases, yes. If it involves out-of-state travel, you must call your child’s Omni caseworker in advance for approval and to complete the proper paperwork.
Yes. Omni will try placing children with you whose religious background is similar to your own. If a foster child is of a different faith, he or she must be allowed to attend worship in that faith, as well as assisting him/her with the transportation to the church of their choice.
If you’ve prepared them well for the coming of a foster child and they understand the temporary nature of foster care, there should be few problems. It’s not unusual for your children to be a bit jealous at first — just as they might be jealous of a new baby in the family. With the support of the Omni staff and by answering their questions honestly and forthrightly, these potential jealousies diminish quickly, and your child may find a new friend.
You can express a preference for the age, race, and sex of the child that you think would best fit in with your family. The home study process helps to determine the best match of a child or children to your special skills and strengths. You do not have to accept a child you do not want or feel would not fit into your family. Most often you will be provided with a lot of information about the child before you make your decision about accepting the child. We want the placement to be just as successful as you do.
That depends on factors such as your ability, your enthusiasm, how many children you have of your own, and how much room you have in your home. The maximum number, by Omni's standards, is flexible from state to state. Contact us for more details.
In most cases, yes. In fact, visits between parents and children are an essential part of the efforts to reunite families. The child’s caseworker has the primary responsibility for planning visits and arranging supervision if required. The caseworker will talk with you and the child’s parents to work out the time and location of the visit that is agreeable to both parties.
The first goal is to return foster children to their families when possible. Most of the children we place through Omni are older and have a voice in being adopted, but if a foster child who has been in your home for some time becomes available for adoption, you can discuss your interest in adopting him or her with the caseworker and meet the requirements for becoming an adoptive parent.
Yes. That is, in fact, the hardest part of being a foster parent. You will certainly feel sad for a time. It’s only natural — just as it’s natural for your foster daughter or son to want a family of their own.
The most effective and successfull foster parents will build strong relationships with their foster children. Our hope is that our foster parents will love and care for foster children like they are their own and will support them as they transition home or to a permanent placement.
As hard as it may be, the most important part of fostering is putting the needs of foster children first and supporting them however they need it most. Foster parents are change makers and can impact families for generations to come. Omni respects the challenges of fostering and will help you determine if/when you are ready for another placement.
Yes, Omni is a network partner of Every Child TN. For more information, visit www.EveryChildTN.org.
Get in touch with the Omni team
Whether you’re considering becoming a foster/adoptive parent or are in the middle of your journey and support, we want to help you. Click below to connect with our team, we’d love to talk.