With You Every Step of Your Journey
To help provide more loving families for children who have been temporarily removed from their homes, GAP Ministries recruits, licenses, and certifies individuals and families who wish to provide an excellent temporary foster or permanent adoptive home for abused and/or neglected children. Welcoming a child that has been through trauma into your home can be challenging, and our team understands that. Once you are licensed and have children placed with you, our team is there to partner with you every step of the way.
Initial training classes are held online, which makes it convenient for busy schedules. After you are licensed we will help to provide you with the ongoing education and the support you need to be successful with your fostering and/or adoption experience.
Foster Requirements
Arizona children need your love, your help and your home. You don’t need a college degree, lots of money or a big fancy house to become a foster, or adoptive parent to a child, teen or sibling group.
Foster Care Information Sessions
Information sessions every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month or schedule a virtual one on one session.
Attend Foster Parent College
Training provides you with tools and challenges you to grow and develop so you can parent children who have been neglected and abused.
Family Home Study
Your Family Specialist will ask you for information necessary to determine your fitness to serve as a foster parent and your ability to comply with foster care requirments.
Training
GAP Training Specialists are knowledgeable in the Foster Parent College Training curriculum and methodology.
We Need You!
Arizona children need your love, your help and your home. You don’t need a college degree, lots of money or a big fancy house to become a foster, or adoptive parent to a child, teen or sibling group. Foster parents are people just like you! They are married, single, divorced or widowed.
Basic Requirements
- At least 21 years of age
- Legal U.S. and Arizona resident
- Apartment dweller, renter or home-owner
- Able to pass a fingerprint-based criminal history records check
- Earn sufficient money to meet your family’s needs
- Pass a home inspection
- Complete 30 hours of Foster Parent College training
Foster Care Information Sessions
When you are ready to get started, please attend an information session
We hold information sessions every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month or you can schedule a virtual one on one session. To RSVP please email foster@gapmin.com or call 520-392-8469.
- Who are the children in need of homes?
- What are the requirements to be a foster or adoptive parent?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of foster or adoptive parents?
- What is the process to become a foster or adoptive parent?
- What supports are available for foster and adoptive parents?
Keep in mind that this is a process that will take time as we get to know you and you reflection your ability to care for children in foster care. This is the time and place for you to ask questions.
Please take a moment to watch this video. If you’d like more information click here or call us at 520-392-8469.
When: Second Monday of every month
Time: 6:00–7:00pm
Location: GAP Ministries
“We had room in our hearts for more.’”
We adopted two boys out of foster care and it has been an amazing experience! We have four children of our own, but felt like we had room in our hearts for more. GAP Ministries was an easy choice because it was obvious that they were going to support us throughout the process. Our case manager was always there for us. We feel extremely lucky to be able to give these boys a better future. We are so blessed to call them ours!
Foster Parent College
Pre Registration Required
Foster Parent College is a free five week course that will help your family learn about the foster care system and better prepare you for parenting a child that has experienced abuse and neglect.
Parenting a child in foster care is not the same as parenting a child to whom you have given birth. While you may have previous parenting experience, caring for children who have experienced neglect and abuse is complex. This training provides you with the skills to successfully advocate and build lasting relationships with the foster children in your home.
The training will also help you decide whether foster and/or adoptive parenting is right for you and your family. Is now the right time? What type of child can I successfully parent? What are some of the special considerations of parenting siblings?
Foster Parent College is a mixture of virtual meetings and online videos. You can complete Foster Parent College entirely at home. The entire training takes 30 hours to complete. Foster parents are vital members of the child’s team. This training provides information about the roles and responsibilities of all the team members that are there to support you and your foster or adoptive child.
Foster families are also required to obtain a First Aid and CPR certification. If you are not already certified we can help you find a class to complete the certification.
Email foster@gapmin.com for more info.
Family Home Study & Safety Evaluation
Arizona children need your love, your help and your home. You don’t need a college degree, lots of money or a big fancy house to become a foster, or adoptive parent to a child, teen or sibling group. Foster parents are people just like you! They are married, single, divorced or widowed.
What Your Family Specialist will do:
- Personally interview you and all the members of your household
- Determine if you are physically, mentally and emotionally able to care for children
- Obtain personal references for you
- Verify your financial condition
- Verify that you live in an apartment or house that is a safe environment for children (home ownership is not required)
- Verify that you have passed the fingerprinting and criminal history and DCS records check process
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Submit your home study to the Arizona Office of Licensing and Regulation (OLR)
Consider the ideal parameters for your family.
- One child or more
- Siblings
- Boys, girls or both
- Ages of children
Information that may help you make a decision for placement
- The medical, dental, behavioral health and educational needs of the child
- The visitation plan for the child with parents, siblings and other family members (if applicable)
- Transportation needs
- Placement history (if applicable)
- Any special services the child receives
Training For Future Foster & Adoptive Parents
Foster Parent College is a process to prepare foster parents to make an informed decision about becoming a resource parent and help participants decide if their expectations and abilities match the realities of fostering and adopting. This on-going assessment provides additional support to increase foster applicants’ likelihood of success in completing Foster Parent College and becoming licensed. GAP accepts applications for Foster Parent College at any time. GAP has Training Specialists who are knowledgeable in the Foster Parent College Training curriculum and methodology, and personally have foster parent experience. That helps to bring an every day approach to learning the ins and outs of fostering vulnerable children.
Care for Medically Complex Children
GAP also works with Arizona OLR to help facilitate the training for families that are open to caring for children that need additional, more complex care. There are requirements the family or individual must meet in order to train and be licensed as a medically fragile home. Our goal is to increase the number of providers that are able to care for children with Medically Complex needs in a home instead of children having to remain in hospital care. If you are interested in learning more please reach out for additional information.
- An introduction to DCS policies and procedures for caring for a child with complex medical needs.
- Review of some of the most common medical conditions for children
- Resources available to assist in the child’s care.
Resources
Click Below for All DCS Forms
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