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Foster Care

What Is Foster Care?

A foster family acts as the temporary substitute family, where the child’s family is not available or where it is unable to assume responsibility for the child.

Why Children are Placed in Care

Children come into care for a number of reasons such as:

  • A parent is unable to provide a safe home for the child
  • A parent is unable to provide the type of care the child needs
  • A parent dies without naming a guardian
  • A parent decides adoption is the best option for his or her child

Foster Care Principles

  • A child has the right to be a valued member of a family and live in a safe, nurturing and stable environment
  • Parents have the primary responsibility for the well being of their children
  • A family unit and parent model is the most beneficial, capable and desirable environment for child rearing
  • It is the responsibility of the community to assist, promote and maintain the healthy functioning of families
  • Society has a role to play in ensuring the health, safety and well being of children
  • Society assumes certain responsibilities for the rearing and nurturing of children when their own parents are unable to do so
  • A child's ethno-cultural heritage (race, religion and culture) and identity shall be preserved and protected.

What Are Some Attributes of Foster Families?

  • A genuine interest in children and an understanding of their needs
  • Physical and emotional strength
  • Effective communication skills with adults and children
  • A sensitivity toward and understanding of the feelings of a child and her family upon separation
  • Personal warmth, sense of humor and a great deal of patience
  • The ability to adjust to new and often demanding situations
  • The ability to understand and implement a variety of child management and discipline strategies
  • The desire to work and plan in a team environment
  • The ability to recognize and accept the importance of the biological family unit and return with the family whenever possible
  • The ability to recognize the temporary nature of child placements in their home

Foster Care Objectives

  • To work towards the child’s ultimate return to their own family whenever possible
  • To provide the type of child care, placement and services best suited to meet the child’s needs, and to support their healthy development
  • To minimize the risks to the child’s emotional health due to separation from their own family and the condition leading to placement
  • To ensure that placements promote stability and continuity of the child’s relationships
  • To protect the child from harmful experiences
  • To place a child within their extended family or in a family of their own ethnocultural background and lifestyle preferably in their community
  • To support the child’s ethnocultural heritage
  • To provide children-in-care of the Director of Family and Children's Services with:
    • A sense of being wanted and cared for
    • Affection and understanding
    • Physical care
    • Cognitive and emotional nurturing
    • Guidance and supervision, and
    • Positive role modeling

What Are Some Attributes of Foster Families?

  • A genuine interest in children and an understanding of their needs
  • Physical and emotional strength
  • Effective communication skills with adults and children
  • A sensitivity toward and understanding of the feelings of a child and her family upon separation
  • Personal warmth, sense of humor and a great deal of patience
  • The ability to adjust to new and often demanding situations
  • The ability to understand and implement a variety of child management and discipline strategies
  • The desire to work and plan in a team environment
  • The ability to recognize and accept the importance of the biological family unit and return with the family whenever possible
  • The ability to recognize the temporary nature of child placements in their home

Click on the headlines below for information on the different types of foster homes, support and training and reimbursement.

Types of Foster Homes

Support and Training for Foster Families

Foster Family Reimbursement

Contact Information

For information on fostering in the Yukon,  or becoming a foster parent. Please contact your Regional Office.

Fostering Links