On any given day, there are over 22,000 Ohio children living with foster parents or in other out-of-home care settings. Nearly 3,200 of those children are waiting for an adoptive home.
Foster parents provide temporary care for children who come into Children Services’ care because of abuse, neglect, abandonment or unstable family conditions. You can be a foster parent if you are at least 21 years old, single or married for at least one year. Licensed foster parents are reimbursed for the cost of caring for the foster children in their homes. Approval to become a foster parent requires completion of training and an approved home study.
Adoptive parents provide permanent homes for children who can no longer live with their birth families. You can adopt if you are at least 18 years old, single or married for at least one year. Families with or without children can adopt. Families in which one or both parents work can adopt. A stable income is the only financial requirement. Adoptive parents can also receive financial help. You do not have to own your own home. Approval to adopt requires completion of training and a home study provided by the agency. Children who wait the longest for an adoptive family include: African-American children; those over the age of 10; and children who are part of a sibling group.
Children up to age thirteen can be cared for in a center. The center must be licensed through the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.
Families who qualify:
Care may also be provided by a single provider for up to six children in the provider’s home. (The provider’s own children under six years of age must be included in the total count. There is a limit of no more than three children under the age of twenty-four months in a provider’s home.)
For further information, contact Putnam County Joab and Family Services
(419) 538-4580