Foster parents provide a temporary, safe home for children in crisis. Children who need foster families have been removed from their birth family homes for reasons of neglect, abuse, abandonment, or other issues endangering their health and/or safety. Many of these children are filled with fear, anger, confusion, or a sense of powerlessness at having been removed from the only home they have ever known.
When selecting a foster or adoptive family for a child, cultural, ethnic, and racial background may be considered as one of a number of factors in determining the best interest of the child.
To achieve permanency for children in foster care the welfare of the child is of paramount interest and children have the right to a safe, stable, and permanent home. Children have a right to be reared by their families when their parents and relatives are able to do so in an adequate manner.
Recognizing that some families are unable or unwilling to resume their parenting responsibilities, services should be provided to ensure a safe, stable, and permanent home. This should be done by placement of the child with relatives accompanied by transfer of legal custody, adoption, or by placement in a permanent foster home.