National Foster Parent Association: Fill & Download for Free

Every county in the US has social service agencies responsible for foster child programs. They vary from state-to-state. You would be required to pass a background check and a homestudy. There is usually some training involved. Here are a couple of resources to get you started:The National Foster Parent AssociationResources Especially for Foster or Adoptive Families

The question seems to make some incorrect assumptions about what’s going on when kids are in foster care. (Note: I was a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children for a number of years in California, so this is a U.S.-oriented answer.)Just because a kid is in the foster care system does not mean that they’re “available to be adopted.” Most are not available — they’re in a kind of life limbo. Their parents still have parental rights, and the family as a whole is being supervised by the court and social services.The court is trying to get the family reunited, which typically means that there are issues that the parents need to get resolved in their lives, so that they’re able and trustworthy to provide care for their children, at which point the kids will rejoin their family… that’s the hope. The reality is often much grimmer, but that still doesn’t mean the kids can just be adopted out.It is true that more foster families are needed, so that more kids could move out of group homes to a nicer environment. But foster parents aren’t birth parents, and there are a variety of forces which cause trouble to many foster placements: often the kids have a lot of needs that are partly the result of their troubled history. Many foster placements fail due to these troubles.In addition, if you’re a foster parent, you don’t have full parental rights, the kid can be taken back by the system, the birth parents can recover custody, and if you’ve bonded with that kid now you’re going to lose them… that’s a scary thing for someone who wants to be a parent.The child’s age is a big factor in adoptability, even for kids who are legally adoptable: older kids often have a much harder time getting adopted than younger kids, for a variety of reasons. If you take a 9 month old healthy baby, and they’re available for adoption, they will go quickly, no doubt about it. But what about a 13 year-old boy who’s been in trouble with the law all of his young life (which is not uncommon)? It takes a pretty brave adoptive parent to take him on.If this is something that concerns you, my suggestion is that you consider becoming a CASA yourself — like I was. This is a volunteer role that’s a big responsibility, but can make a big difference for kids. (See National CASA Association - National CASA - CASA for Children)

Being a foster parent isn’t just a cause or a volunteer opportunity, but rather a lifestyle choice. It is a tremendous, 24–7 responsibility that most people do not feel equal to, and rightly so. Most volunteering opportunities are a place that you go, a thing that you do, then back to your normal life. When you are a foster parent, you don’t get to do that. So, no matter how much people care about children in foster care, not all of them can or should be foster parents. Now, a lot of people probably could that don’t know that they are eligible, especially singles.I would recommend that if you want to help kids in foster care, but don’t feel that you can care for a child full time, become a CASA volunteer. You can be an advocate for a child in foster care and be a support for that child until they have a safe, permanent home. National CASA Association - National CASA - CASA for Children