Foster Care

Foster care homes are critically important for children removed from their families who need a temporary, safe place to live. Fragile and troubled children need the basics, such as food and shelter, but also need guidance, support, encouragement, and most importantly, love. Since foster care parents are not meant to be permanent or to replace a child's family, a team that includes members of their birth family meets to work towards reunification when possible. In the meantime, foster parents provide a critical role in making a home for children who need physical and emotional care.

The Board of Child Care has a Foster Care program in Washington, D.C. and a Treatment Foster Care program in Baltimore, MD.

Treatment Foster Care Program

The Board of Child Care's Treatment Foster Care Program (TFC) is a high quality, community-based service to children needing added support for their growth and development within a nurturing family setting.

Many of the nearly 10,200 children in Maryland's foster care system have physical, emotional, social, spiritual and development needs that require more than regular foster care services. The TFC Program places children age 4 to 21 with emotional, behavioral, or psychological conditions, or who are in need of high-level treatment. We also place sibling groups if at least one child meets the criteria.

We have worked since 1998 with referring agencies and community partners to recruit, train and support therapeutic foster families in their work with children toward the goal of permanency, either through reunification, guardianship, independent living or adoption.

Do You Have Love, Patience and Time?

Treatment foster parents are special people who believe they can impact the life of a child or youth by providing guidance, love, stability and educational/therapeutic support. We help treatment foster parents create a behavioral plan that addresses the child's presenting problems and builds on his or her strengths.

          Foster parents are urgently needed for:

• Teenagers.
• Young children with serious behavioral/mental health needs.
• Children who have had multiple placements, resulting in difficulty with attachment and loss.
• Children needing structure and guidance who display temper tantrums, run away, or have problems with authority.
• Developmentally delayed youth with social/educational needs.

Another way to help is to become a licensed respite foster parent and care for children on the weekends or for short periods for ongoing foster parents.

Join us - our next training class begins [insert date here]

Supports for Youth and Families through BCC TFC

• Assigned clinical social workers providing individual therapy and assessment of psycho-social needs and strengths.
• Psychiatric staff for evaluation and medication monitoring.
• Case management for support around educational, vocational, recreational, medical and biological family needs.
• 24-hour crisis intervention.
• Regular visits and monthly team planning focusing on permanency and avoiding placement disruption.
• Monthly, tax-free stipend to treatment foster parents for help with room, board, transportation, clothing and other child care expenses.
• 30-hours of pre-service and 24-hours of on-going training for treatment foster parents.
• Medical expense coverage.
• Respite care services.

Treatment Foster Parents Are

• At least 25.
• Able to pass background checks and home inspections.
• Married or single parent families whose income is not dependent on a foster care stipend.
• Excellent child care providers who have a family-oriented lifestyle and are dedicated to a child's treatment/supervision.
• Stable, even-tempered and self-controlled, with a good sense of humor.
• Willing to complete pre-service and ongoing training.
• Able to work toward a child's reunification with his or her birth family, when applicable.
• Not certified by another TFC Program or to provide in-home child day care or adult care.

Contact Us

Please contact us at tfcinfo@boardofchildcare.org or contact Debbie Marini, Director of Treatment Foster Care at 410-496-5614.