Tulare County Foster Care Licensing will hold an orientation for prospective foster parents at 6:30pm on Thursday, July 17, at its office at 26500 S. Mooney Blvd. in Visalia.
In addition to scheduled orientations, Tulare County Foster Care licensing staff members now offer personal orientations in order to be more accessible to prospective foster parents.
Foster care is a program that provides shelter to children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse, neglect or abandonment, or because their parents are ill or incarcerated. The shelter may be emergency, short-term care or longer term. There are nearly 1,000 children in Tulare County’s foster care program, and there are not enough foster care homes. Of particular need are foster parents prepared to take in siblings or teenagers, and parents willing to respond to emergency placement needs. Foster parents are needed in every community of Tulare County, so that children can remain in their own school.
People who are interested in becoming foster parents will need to attend an orientation meeting, and meet requirements such as being at least 18 years old, being financially able to support their own family, having no criminal record and a clear health screening, and being certified in CPR and first aid.
To schedule a personal orientation, or for other information, call 623-0581.