Become a Foster Parent

For over 125 years, The Children's Home of Reading has been meeting the needs of children and teenagers from Reading, Berks County, and the surrounding counties. As The Children's Home continues to grow and expand services, the need for good foster homes is also growing.

 

Our society is based on the belief that the family is the cornerstone to good development. Throughout this area there are many children unable to live with their birth families because of abuse, neglect, illness, family crisis, and sometimes, their own behaviors. We are looking for people to provide family living experiences for these children.

As foster parents, you can touch a child's life in a positive and lasting way. Although foster parents represent a broad range of backgrounds, the common and unifying characteristics among them are love and respect for children, and a basic belief in the importance of good parenting for a child's healthy growth and well-being.

The role of foster parents has changed over the past years, and the changes are good - good for the children who need sensitive care; good for the troubled parents who need positive role models; and good for our agency who depends more and more on your skills and involvement to make appropriate and realistic treatment plans.

Our objective is to provide a treatment oriented program in a family setting. In order to meet this objective, the foster family must be willing to accept the following responsibilities:

• Help the child maintain or improve relationships with his/her birth

    family, school, and peers;

• Encourage and support the child as he/she grows physically,

    academically, socially, and emotionally;

• Maintain an attitude of respect and understanding toward birthparents,

    who are important to the child in care;

• Work closely with your social worker in order to develop and implement

    therapeutic treatment plans for the child;

• Continue to meet the needs of your own family while sharing your home

    and family with the child in your care and;

• Participate in on-going training relative to the special needs of these

    children.

If you feel that you and your family have something to offer a child in need, consider the challenge. Please contact The Children's Home of Reading and find out how you can become a part of a professional team who cares, and help us to make a difference in someone's life.