Family Based Care

Family Based Care includes an array of services for each child or set of siblings that needs out-of-home care. Family-Based Care providers (kinship families, foster caregivers and adoptive parents) provide a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for children who cannot remain in their homes due to abuse or neglect. If a child cannot stay with his or her parents, they often stay with a relative or other person that already has a relationship with the child (Kinship caregiver.) If relatives are not available or appropriate, the child or siblings can stay with a highly qualified foster family. LCCS Foster Families are expected to care for the child however long the child needs out-of-home care. This may be from a few days to several months. For some children, returning home is not possible. For these children, the Court either transfers custody from the child's parents to an appropriate relative or grants permanent custody to LCCS. When the agency relieves Permanent Custody of a Child or set of Siblings, it means all legal ties to the biological family are severed and the child or siblings can be adopted by a new family. Most of the time, the foster parents become the adoptive parents after having already come to know and love the children in their care who cannot return home.