A foster parent looks after a child while the adults responsible for that child work through whatever brought the case to court. It is temporary by design, and the plan for most children is to go home.
That is the part prospective carers most often underestimate: the job includes supporting a child's relationship with their own family, taking them to visits, and handing them back. This page is a plain-language guide. Cases, licences and eligibility decisions are handled by the State of Florida through its own official channels.
Applicants must be adults, must pass background screening along with everyone else in the household, and must show enough income to support their own family without the board payment.
The home has to meet safety standards — working smoke alarms, safe storage of medicines and weapons, adequate sleeping space — and it can be rented. Being single, or already having children, is not an obstacle.
Orientation
An honest overview of what fostering involves, run by the community-based care agency for the area.
Pre-service training
A course covering child development, the effects of trauma, working with birth families and the mechanics of the system.
Home study
Interviews with everyone in the household, a safety inspection, references and financial checks, written up as a single assessment.
Licence
Issued for a fixed term and renewed on condition of continued training and a fresh inspection.
Licensed foster parents receive a monthly board payment intended to cover the child's costs; it is not income and it is not a wage. Children in care are covered by Medicaid, and child care assistance is available for younger children when carers work.
Beyond money there is a caseworker, a licensing specialist, and in most areas a local foster parent association — which experienced carers tend to describe as the part that actually keeps people going.