What Is Emergency Foster Care Placement?

Foster care is a valuable solution for children who are unable to stay with their families. Emergency foster care is even more critical because it offers a safety net for children who need a stable and nurturing environment during significantly challenging moments in their lives. This guide explores how emergency foster care works in California, the eligibility requirements, and how to become an emergency foster parent.

What Is Emergency Foster Care?

Emergency foster care is when a child at immediate risk receives short-term care on very short notice. Emergency foster care placement involves training families willing to provide temporary care for these children. This type of care can sometimes be requested within hours before the child should be homed.

Emergency foster care is often needed in urgent or unforeseen circumstances and provides children with a safe place to go right away. These services may help children or non-minor dependents.

How Does Emergency Foster Care Work in California?

Emergency foster care is a short-term solution that aims for foster parents to take care of a child until they reunite with their family or an adoptive family. It can last anywhere from one day to 14 days. When a child needs a temporary foster home, a social worker will contact multiple foster care providers for a suitable temporary foster care parent.

While the child is in their care, the county and foster family agency will look for a suitable placement match that can meet their needs. The final placement may be with a traditional foster care provider or a relative. However, during temporary emergency placement, a child may not meet with biological relatives, and the temporary foster parent has fewer responsibilities than regular foster care parents.

Reasons a Child May Need Emergency Foster Care

Here are some examples of situations that require emergency foster care:

• A sudden illness or the death of a parent
• A home accident or disaster that destroys the home or hospitalizes a parent
• Violence in the home, such as abuse, bullying, or maltreatment
• Foster family emergencies in which the foster children cannot remain in their foster home due to unforeseen circumstances

How Does Emergency Kinship Placement Work?

Kinship placement or kinship care is when the state of California wants a relative or nonrelative extended family member to take care of a relative child who has entered the foster care system. This type of care is often beneficial for children because it provides psychological, emotional, and financial support. For this reason, relatives of a child needing foster care may be considered for emergency foster care placement.

The foster family agency may decide they are suitable if they pass initial safety assessments and can provide the child with a familiar and secure environment. During this time, the caregiver will need to complete other requirements in the resource family approval (RFA) process. If you have a relative who recently entered the system, place your application within 24 hours of removal from their parents, since representatives will decide the child’s placement during this time.

How to Become an Emergency Foster Parent

Here are the general steps for becoming an emergency foster parent:

1. Initial inquiry: Contact a licensed foster family agency to inform them that you are interested in becoming an emergency foster parent.
2. Orientation: Attend an orientation session to learn about the expectations and responsibilities of an emergency foster parent.
3. Application form: The agency will ask you to fill out an application form with information about your family, family history, and reason for wanting to become an emergency foster parent.
4. Training: California requires applicants to undergo a minimum of 12 hours of training, such as CPR and first aid courses. You may prepare yourself even more with courses on child development and trauma-informed care. Doing so may allow you to offer foster children more sufficient care depending on their situation.
5. Background check: The agency will perform a thorough background check on you to see if you have a criminal or arrest history. However, not all criminal histories prevent you from being approved.
6. Interview: This step requires you to interview a social worker who will assess whether your family situation and preferences match the needs of foster children.
7. Home study: A social worker will visit your home to review its comfort, safety, and suitability for fostering. This visit includes checking whether the home offers adequate bedroom space and passes basic fire and health inspections.
8. Approval: If you meet all the requirements, you may receive approval from the county and agency and be added to the list of available emergency foster parents.

What Are the Emergency Foster Care Requirements?

To be eligible to apply to become an emergency foster parent, you should meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Residency: You should be a resident of California.
• Age: You must be at least 18 years old.
• Training: You must complete the mandatory training programs.
• Background: You should not have a criminal history that prevents you from being a foster parent.
• Health: You should be in good mental and physical health to care for a child.

Benefits and Challenges of Being an Emergency Foster Parent

Some of the key benefits of becoming an emergency foster parent include:

• Community contribution: You can actively support your community and make a difference in children’s lives.
• Immediate impact: Emergency foster care placement allows you to provide a safe and stable environment for children experiencing challenging situations.
• Personal growth: As an emergency foster parent, you learn more about the emotional and psychological needs of foster children, helping you gain new skills and experiences for improving child welfare.

While temporary foster care offers enriching benefits, there are some concerns these foster parents have, including:

• Time commitment: Emergency foster care often requires your immediate availability, which may affect your personal schedule. This requirement makes the role more suitable for those with flexible schedules.
• Emotional demands: Children needing a temporary foster home often face a crisis. Temporary foster parents need to be emotionally available for these children. It helps to partner with a foster family agency that offers services and resources to help you support foster children and to support you emotionally if needed.
• Behavioral issues: Some children may develop behavioral challenges due to a traumatic background or the actions of their parents or caregivers. In these cases, emergency foster parents should consider training and parenting programs that help them understand how to respond to different behaviors and nurture children who have traumatic pasts.

Start Providing Temporary Foster Care With Knotts Family Agency

Whether you want to provide kinship care or become an emergency foster parent, Knotts Family Agency is a foster family agency that primarily supports foster parents. We aim to help you grow and support children with stable, nurturing environments. With over 30 years of experience, our team offers targeted training sessions to combat the challenges of emergency foster care placement.

Many of our training programs enhance parenting skills, teach you to provide trauma-informed support, and offer specialized training in behavioral management. We also offer counseling services and support groups to help you navigate your feelings. To start directly helping children in need, learn more about emergency foster care with KFA and request an application from us today.