The Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is a licensed Child Welfare Agency and all of its approved foster homes must be in compliance with all licensing requirements. The Child Welfare Licensing act defines a “Foster Home” as private residence of one or more family members that receives from a child placement agency any minor child who is unattended by a parent or guardian in order to provide care, training, education, custody or supervision on a 24 hour basis, not to include adoptive homes (see PUB-04: Minimum Licensing Standards for Child Welfare Agencies). Although the licensing standards' definition of a foster home does not include adoptive homes, DCFS foster and adoptive homes must meet the same licensing standards to comply with federal funding regulations.

Foster Care is a program designed to provide a substitute family life experience in a DCFS approved foster home, provisional foster home, or licensed facility for a child who needs care for a temporary, or in some instances, for an extended period of time. During this time, the birth/legal family is either nonexistent or dysfunctional due to social, emotional, economic, and/or physical reasons. Foster care is founded on the premise that all children have a right to a safe and supportive environment in which to grow.

The purpose of foster care is to provide a healthy home and community experience for the child while the conditions which caused the placement away from the birth/legal family are being resolved. Thus, foster care is intended to be temporary. The length of a child's stay in foster care will depend a great deal on the conditions which caused the placement and the time and the resources available to resolve them. The goal of foster care is to work toward a permanent placement for the child, preferably, return to the birth/legal parents.

Foster care is a team effort involving DCFS, the foster parents, the child in foster care, and the birth/legal parents. When all those directly involved in the situation understand their own and each others' roles and cooperate as team members in a team effort, the quality of the experience for all is increased, and the effect on the child's future well-being is greatly improved.

Good communication among all team members, as well as mutual respect, understanding, and honesty is essential for achievement of foster care goals. All team members share the responsibility for ensuring that lines of communication are kept open and in use.

Because of differences in responsibilities and perspectives, conflicts may arise. How well conflicts are worked

There are two types of foster homes: Regular Foster Homes and Provisional Foster Homes.

Regular foster homes are ones in which the foster parents agree to provide 24 hour care for a particular child in foster care. There will be an agreement between the child-placing agency and the foster parents that the family can care for that child as a substitute family until such a time as a permanent plan can be developed and implemented for that child. The foster parents will be given pertinent information about the child in foster care. This includes reasons for placement, circumstances for removal from the parent's home, where siblings are placed, a copy of the case plan and visitation plan. They will be kept informed concerning plans for the child's future. In many instances it will be appropriate for foster parents to reach out to the birth/legal parents. However, this outreach will be supervised by members of the reunification services team.

Family members and the physical characteristics of the home must be evaluated to determine special qualifications of the prospective foster family. Evaluation is considered with regard to special training and expertise, experience, and preference as to the numbers, ages, sex and characteristics of children who may be placed in their home.

Regular foster homes may also elect to serve in the following roles:

In an effort to preserve family connections and expedite placement of children, the Division may place a child in foster care with a relative or fictive kin if one has been identified and is appropriate. Relative means a person within the fifth degree of kinship to the child by virtue of blood or adoption. Fictive kin means a person not related to the child by blood or marriage but who has a strong, positive, emotional tie to the child and plays a positive role in the child's life, such as a godparent, neighbor, or family friend. This type of placement is classified as a “Provisional Foster Home”. The purpose of opening a provisional foster home is to enable DCFS to make a quick placement for the child with a relative or fictive kin with whom a bond already exists. Therefore, a provisional home may be opened before the results of the FBI Background Check are received, before the provisional foster parents have completed the pre-service training, and before a full home study is finished (however a walkthrough of the home is required before placement in a provisional home). These are the only differences in approval requirements, including minimum licensing requirements, between provisional foster homes and regular foster homes in Arkansas.

Once opened as a provisional home, DCFS staff works with the foster parents in that home to bring them into full compliance within a six month period. Provisional foster homes that are not in full compliance at the end of six months must be closed and the child(ren) removed or the relative must have been granted permanent custody by the court. If the home is opened as a regular foster home, the foster parents may then request to care for non-relative/non-fictive kin children in foster care with the understanding that additional evaluation of their home would be required to ensure that it would be an appropriate placement for non-relative / non-fictive kin children. Provisional foster homes shall not be paid a board payment until the relative meets all of the licensing requirements and DCFS standards, and is reclassified as a regular foster home.

The child is in the custody of the Department, therefore, the child shall remain in a licensed or approved foster home, shelter, or facility until the relative or fictive kin's home is opened as a provisional foster home, regular foster home, or the court grants custody to the relative or other person after a written, approved home study is presented to the court.