Process: How to become the foster parent?

How can someone become a substitute parent?

When someone decides on their own to become a substitute parent then they

either go to the authority of social and legal child protection and hand in the application for arranging the substitute care and deal with the office all the time

or

find a helping organisation as Family and community centre Chaloupka and we guide them throuh the whole process of becoming a substitute parent

(people also often come from office to a helping organisation because the office cannot really provide such an assistance as helping organisations which focus on these)

However such organisations as Family and community centre Chaloupka also tries to spread the idea of the need for substitute care at every event which we organize or take part in, in such cases we have a stall with information leaflets and brochures and social workers to talk to people and explain details which also showed as an effective way to promote the idea of substitute family care and can attract new substitute parents.

Description of the steps of the process how a person can become a substitute parent in Czech republic:

  1. the decision to become a substitute parent (the type does not matter yet at this time)
  2. application at the office (essential parts of this application are: report about general health condition, documents about their environment – occupation, family, children, life, incl. photos)
  3. the office goes directly to the household of the applicant and does a research if the family is able to provide the substitute care and if they have environment to accept a child)
  4. then the office issues a statement either recommending or disapproving and this their statement goes further to the district office
  5. district office evaluates the given documents once again, can also obtain more or ask for more and then says yes or no
  6. if the district office says yes then a special state-funded istitution devoted to this issue takes these people into their care and realizes the process of preparation of the applicants for the substitute care
  7. within this preparation under this special institution the applicants undergo a lot of special group seminars and workshops (complete training) about the problem of substitute care and children that are given to substitute care (e.g. educational seminars, health conditions of such children, traumas, problematic education of such children, social problems, also training about the economic part of substitute care, they practise model situations and undergo active workshops). Besides these group activities they also have to attend individual psychological evaluation meetings.
  8. specialists from this special institution then take into account both statements from the group and also the individual meeting and make a final decision if the person can become a substiture parent
  9. this document of  final decision is sent back to the district office and the district office evaluates once again all the documents and makes the very final decision if YES or NO