Understanding Foster Care

When children can’t safely live at home, the court can give temporary legal possession to Child Protective Services (CPS). CPS assigns a case worker to the children and then the immediate goal is to find a safe home for the children to live while the biological parents work to get their rights back.

These temporary places could be:

• Foster family homes
• Residential group care facilities
• Facilities overseen by another state agency

Foster care is meant to be temporary until the parents demonstrate they can safely care for their children. However, it can become permanent if the court determines parental rights should be terminated and the children become legally free for adoption.

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