Open Your Heart and Home.
Be a Foster Parent.

To meet the needs of children in crisis, the Wichita Children's Home not only utilizes its residential center at 810 N. Holyoke, but also depends on special foster families in the community to provide assistance. The Foster Care Department trains and supervises these special families who care for all children under the age of 6 brought to the Home who are best served by one or two primary caregivers.

Foster homes also enable the Home to assist even more children in need by supplying additional secure, caring sites beyond the Home's often capacity-filled residential center. Often the children over 6 are returned to the Children's Home when a bed becomes available.

Foster families serve an important role, giving personal attention, nurturing and love to children needing a smaller, family atmosphere. Their responsibilities include providing supervision, physical care, recreation, transportation, and meals in a warm, inviting environment, while the professionals at the Wichita Children's Home focus on ensuring the child's safety for the future.

Participating as a foster parent is a worthwhile and rewarding experience with many positive benefits. Not only will you help children, you will receive:

• financial reimbursement;
• regular guidance and support by a trained social worker;
• valuable child care and life skills training, and
• the personal satisfaction of knowing you have touched a child's life forever.

You may apply to become a foster parent by meeting these basic, initial requirements:

• be an adult, single or married, over 21 years of age
• own or rent a home
• be emotionally and financially stable
• provide discipline, care and love on a 24-hour basis

If you are within these guidelines, you can begin the licensing process. Upon approval of a Foster Care Application, a training schedule will be established which includes a thirty hour workshop, Model Approach to Partnership in Parenting (MAPP). MAPP will explain the foster care system and provide you with the necessary skills to care for the special children you may have in your home.

If you have any questions or want additional information, please contact the Foster Care Department at 684-6581