Foster Care Licensing

Foster Care is a licensed family setting providing a safe and secure home environment that promotes well-being. Foster families play a critical role by caring for the adult or child and providing support.

Types of Foster Care

• Emergency shelter: needed in emergency situations, providers must be will to care for both female and male children ages 0 through 18 and have some flexibility for sibling groups. Placements are typically 1 to 8 days.
• Family foster care: foster families care for children for 1 day to several months.
• Special services homes: foster families capable of providing care for children with medical needs, developmental disabilities, emotional and behavioral special needs, and youth who have been found delinquent.
• Resource family homes: foster families provide care for children, actively support reunification while committing to the possibility of adoption if reunification can not take place.
• Respite care: foster families care for children for periods of times, as short as one day or up to 29 days. The purpose is to provide the children's parents a brief break in their care responsibilities.

Foster Parents

• Must reside in Mower County.
• Must be 21 years or older.
• May be married or single.
• May be a renter or homeowner.
• Household members pass a background study, which can include:
  • Review of specific records of the person being studied by the Department of Human Services.
  • Review of criminal history information maintained by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
  • Review records of substantiated maltreatment of vulnerable adults and minors from investigations completed by counties' adult protection and child protection staff and by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Department of Health.
  • Additional records are also reviewed in some cases.