Foster Family Agency

Whether a family is interested in providing temporary foster care or a permanent plan of adoption, they must first become an approved Resource Family. There are many prerequisites to becoming an approved Resource Family. The most important is the desire to provide a loving and stable home to a child or nonminor dependent in need. The applicants must be at least 18 years of age, in good physical and mental health, and shall submit a completed application, which includes (but is not limited to):

• Proof of identity.
• Department of Motor Vehicles report on the applicant, and all adults residing or regularly present in the home who may frequently transport the children or nonminor dependents.
• A health screening by a health professional.
• If employed, verification of current employment.
• Verification of the applicant’s current income and disclosure of expenses.
• Documents verifying that the applicant owns or rents the home in which the applicant resides or has written permission to reside at the residence by the owner of the home.
• A home and health safety assessment.
• Character references.
• A thorough background check.

An applicant shall participate in a family evaluation and complete pre-approval training. An applicant may be required to complete other activities related to their ability to be approved as a Resource Family.

The comprehensive assessment includes a home environment assessment, background check assessment, and permanency assessment, which includes a family evaluation. A Family evaluation includes minimum of two face-to-face interviews with any applicants and a minimum of one separate face-to-face interview of all other individuals living in the home. A written report is completed from this assessment, which includes a psychosocial evaluation.

The first step to becoming a Resource Family is to attend an orientation. The orientation will provide detailed information on the specifics about the requirements to become a Resource Family, the duties of the Resource Family after approval and a trained professional will answer any specific questions from interested families.

Initially in order to become a Resource Family through Valley Teen Ranch each applicant must complete the following trainings/certifications individually:

• Trauma Informed Parenting Workshop through Valley Teen Ranch. This training is offered three times per year and focuses on trauma-informed parenting.  The curriculum is Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: A Workshop for Resource Parents from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
• Pediatric First Aid, CPR, AED.
• Safe Sleep and Abusive Head Trauma Class- *this class is REQUIRED if you wish to care for children under the age of 4 years old.
• Basic Water Rescue- *this class is REQUIRED only for those who have pools, spas or other bodies of water on their property.

After initial approval, each Resource Parent will need to complete a minimum of 8 hours of training annually.

You must be financially self-reliant to qualify as a Resource Family. Foster children and nonminor dependents have many court ordered services, which may include, but are not limited to visitation, teaming meetings, and therapeutic services.  Resource families are also responsible for transportation to health-related services, school, extracurricular, enrichment, cultural and social activities. Therefore, families should consider the ages of the children and their level of needs before taking placement. You can also utilize respite care providers approved through Valley Teen Ranch to care for your foster children in your absence.

Valley Teen Ranch Foster Family Agency serves all children and nonminor dependents age’s birth to twenty-one-years old regardless of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, physical or developmental ability, mental capability or ambulatory status. A family should take into consideration age, gender and ethnicity preference as well as the total capacity for their home. The family should also consider any special needs or considerations, temperament characteristics, challenging behaviors, attachment issues, stress related behavior, medical/developmental/emotional factors, learning/school issues, sexual behaviors and sexual orientation/identification.

Some children are placed with an approved Resource Family with the intent of adoption. Other children may become eligible for adoption if reunification with their birth parents is not successful. The Resource Family Approval has streamlined this process so that the Resource Family will be pre-approved for adoption should they chose to provide a permanent plan of adoption for a youth in their home.