Becoming a Foster Parent in Georgia: Training, Home Study & Approval

Becoming a foster parent in Georgia takes roughly four to six months and runs through the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). You meet the eligibility rules, gather documentation, complete pre-service training, pass a home study with background checks and a safety inspection, and then receive a Certificate of Approval that makes your home eligible for placements. You can go through your local county DFCS office directly, or you can apply through a licensed private Child Placing Agency (CPA) that operates under the same state standards.1GA Division of Family and Children Services. Private Agencies Either route ends at the same certification. CPAs tend to be smaller and offer more personalized support; county DFCS offices are the direct public pathway. The authority for the whole system sits with the Georgia Department of Human Services under O.C.G.A. § 49-5-8.2Justia. Georgia Code 49-5-8 – Powers and Duties of Department

Who Qualifies

You must be a legal Georgia resident. Single applicants must be at least 25 years old, and every applicant has to be at least ten years older than any child placed with them.3Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family and Children Services. General Information Marital status does not matter. Single, married, or cohabiting applicants are all accepted, and you can rent or own.

Every adult in the household, meaning anyone 18 or older, must submit to a fingerprint-based criminal background check run through both the Georgia Crime Information Center and the FBI.4Justia. Georgia Code 49-5-69.1 – Fingerprint and Records Check Requirements Certain felony convictions or a substantiated history of child maltreatment are disqualifying.

You do not need to be wealthy, but you do need to be financially self-sufficient. The state looks at your income, debts, and monthly obligations to confirm you can cover your household without relying on the foster care per diem. That per diem is meant to cover the child’s needs, not to prop up your budget.

Basic home conditions matter too. The home must be smoke-free. Each foster child needs their own bed and adequate personal space. You need reliable phone service and reasonable access to medical facilities and other community resources.

Documents to Gather Upfront

Most of the paperwork needs to be collected before your first training session, and families who start assembling it early move through the whole process faster. Plan to produce:

  • Identification for every household member: Social Security cards, birth certificates, and valid government-issued photo ID.
  • Financial records: W-2 forms, recent pay stubs, and the previous year’s tax return, along with a financial disclosure statement listing assets and liabilities.
  • Medical examinations for every person living in the home, completed by a licensed physician.
  • A Child Protective Services screening form authorizing the state to search for any prior reports of abuse or neglect connected to anyone in your household.
  • A minimum of three personal references who can speak to your stability, parenting ability, and temperament. At least one should be a relative. Employers, neighbors, and long-term friends are common choices.5Child Welfare Information Gateway. Home Study Requirements for Prospective Foster Parents – Georgia

References carry real weight. The evaluator uses them to cross-check your self-reported information and to catch potential blind spots. If you have school-aged children, expect the agency to ask a school reference about your engagement with your child’s education. Pick references who know you well enough to give specific, honest answers rather than generic praise.

Pre-Service Training (NTDC)

Effective July 1, 2024, Georgia replaced its former IMPACT training with the National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC).6GA SCORE. Training – NTDC Intro All prospective foster and adoptive parents must complete NTDC before approval.7Policy and Manual Management System (PAMMS). 14.8 Pre-Service Training The curriculum is built around the realities of caring for children who have experienced trauma and family disruption, and it covers:

  • Trauma and attachment, and how abuse, neglect, and separation affect child development and behavior.
  • Trauma-informed parenting strategies for responding to difficult behaviors rooted in a child’s history.
  • Cultural humility and parenting across racial and cultural differences.
  • Maintaining a child’s connections to siblings, extended family, and their community of origin.
  • Recognizing mental health and substance abuse issues and navigating appropriate services.
  • Permanency, birth family relationships, and the legal framework behind reunification.

The training doubles as self-assessment. Participants regularly evaluate their own readiness, and trainers watch how prospective parents engage with hard material. If the idea that reunification with a biological parent is often the legal goal is something you’ll struggle with, the training is where that conversation happens, not after a child is in your home.

The Home Study and Safety Inspection

The home study runs alongside your training and is the most intensive part of the process. Georgia uses the Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) model, which combines interviews, a psychosocial evaluation, and a written report.8Policy and Manual Management System (PAMMS). 14.10 Initial Family Evaluation

Interviews

Expect at least four interviews spread across a minimum of three home visits, typically seven to ten days apart. The first visit is introductory and walks through a detailed questionnaire about your personal history, parenting philosophy, family relationships, health, support system, and work life. Later visits move into more sensitive ground: substance use history, any experience with domestic violence, mental health background, and how you handle conflict and stress. The evaluator is not looking for a perfect history. They are assessing self-awareness, honesty, and whether you have worked through issues that could affect a child’s safety. The SAFE tool evaluates 70 psychosocial factors tied to effective foster parenting, and your references feed into that analysis through structured reference letters designed to pull more nuanced information than a standard recommendation.

Home Safety Inspection

A separate inspection verifies your home meets Georgia’s Safety and Quality Standards.9Policy and Manual Management System (PAMMS). 14.1 Safety and Quality Standards Inspectors check for:

  • At least one working smoke detector and one carbon monoxide detector on every level of the home and near all sleeping areas.
  • At least one operable fire extinguisher that is readily accessible.
  • A water heater set no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Firearms and ammunition locked and inaccessible to children, with ammunition stored separately and keys kept with an adult or reasonably secured from children.
  • All prescription and over-the-counter medications stored where children cannot access them.

Most of these are quick fixes. The water heater setting is the one applicants most often forget to check. Adjust it before the inspection and you avoid a follow-up visit.

Final Approval and Timing

Once you’ve finished pre-service training, completed the home study interviews, and submitted every required document, DFCS has up to eight weeks to finalize the evaluation.10GA Division of Family and Children Services. Steps to Approval Your fingerprints are transmitted electronically to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI for final clearance. The agency compiles a SAFE Home Study Report, and a SAFE-certified DFCS County Director or CPA Director gives the final sign-off, with three business days to review and approve once the report is in front of them.8Policy and Manual Management System (PAMMS). 14.10 Initial Family Evaluation Approval produces a Certificate of Approval, and your home becomes eligible to receive placements.

Four to six months from inquiry to certificate is typical. How quickly you complete training and turn around paperwork is the biggest variable. Once certified, placement timing depends on the needs of children in your region and the age range and characteristics you’ve indicated you can accommodate. Some families get a call within days. Others wait weeks. New foster parents are typically approved for basic family foster care; higher-need therapeutic placements require additional training and experience and come with higher per diem rates.

What Happens After You’re Approved

Per Diem Reimbursement

Georgia pays a daily per diem based on the child’s age. As of July 1, 2025, the basic family foster care rates are:11Georgia Department of Human Services. COSTAR Section 3001 – Family Foster Care Programs

  • Birth through age 5: $29.20 per day
  • Age 6 through 12: $31.51 per day
  • Age 13 and older: $34.27 per day

The per diem covers room and board, replacement clothing, basic medicine-cabinet items, and incidental expenses. Foster parents submit a monthly invoice (Form 526) with receipts for reimbursable items like clothing and medical costs. Therapeutic and specialized placements pay higher rates. For federal purposes, the per diem is not taxable income when it represents reimbursement for foster care expenses.

Child Tax Credit

A foster child placed in your home can qualify you for the federal Child Tax Credit if the child lived with you for more than half the tax year, was under 17 at year’s end, and has a valid Social Security number.12Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit You must claim the child as a dependent, and the child cannot provide more than half of their own support. For 2026, the maximum credit is $2,200 per qualifying child, with up to $1,700 refundable.

Your Rights as a Foster Parent

Georgia has a foster parent bill of rights codified at O.C.G.A. § 49-5-281.13Justia. Georgia Code 49-5-281 – Bill of Rights for Foster Parents Knowing these before your first placement prevents the most common frustrations foster parents report with the system. You have the right to:

  • Be treated with respect by DFCS and its partners as a primary provider of care and a member of the professional team.
  • Not be discriminated against based on religion, race, gender, marital status, national origin, age, or disability.
  • Be notified by DFCS of issues that could jeopardize the safety of your family or the child, or that would change how you should approach care, before a child is placed.
  • Refuse a specific placement without losing your certification.
  • Receive per diem payments on schedule per your agreement with the department.
  • Reach DFCS personnel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Receive pre-service and continuing training at appropriate intervals.

The statute also preserves your ability to exercise parental authority within the limits of DFCS policies and Georgia law, and to maintain your own family values while respecting the child’s and birth family’s values. In practice, the right to pre-placement information is the one foster parents most often feel gets shortchanged. If you aren’t getting adequate background on a child before placement, the statute gives you standing to push back.

Annual Re-Certification and Ongoing Training

Certification lasts a maximum of 12 months, so you go through re-evaluation every year. Fingerprints and background checks for every adult in the household renew on a five-year cycle, and foster parent medical exams run on the same five-year cycle. If a new adult moves into the household or a household member turns 18, they need their own background check right away.

Each foster parent must complete at least 15 hours of Continued Parent Development (CPD) training per calendar year, with at least five of those hours earned through in-person interaction rather than online coursework.14GA Division of Family and Children Services. On-Going Training The content should be relevant to the kinds of children placed in your home. You also need to keep CPR and First Aid certification current throughout your approval period; hours spent renewing those certifications count toward the 15-hour requirement.15Policy and Manual Management System (PAMMS). 14.9 Continued Parent Development As a foster parent you are also a mandated reporter under Georgia law, meaning you have a legal duty to report suspected abuse or neglect of any child, not only those in your care.

Falling behind on training hours, letting CPR lapse, or refusing to cooperate with re-evaluation can jeopardize your license. The state can also revoke approval if safety standards are no longer met, if you provided false information, or if there is a substantiated finding of abuse or neglect. Build the training hours into your calendar early in the year. It’s the kind of thing that slips once you have an actual child in the home.