Open Your Heart to Youth in Foster Care

Begin your online registration now

Why should you become a foster family?

You are needed


Every 2 minutes children nationwide are placed into foster care. Foster care can be an unpredictable, confusing and traumatizing period in a child’s life. With families like you, foster youth can have a soft place to fall during their time of crisis.

Kids Stay Connected


Without enough foster homes in rural Nevada, Foster children are faced with the risk of being displaced from their community of origin when entering foster care. With your help, you can help ease the trauma of entering care by keeping foster kids connected to their schools, families, friends and everything they know.

You Impact Your Community’s Future


Being a foster family not only means helping a child but it also mean rebuilding an entire family unit. When you foster today, you are setting your future community of families up for success.

What is Foster Care?

Foster parenting is about believing and investing in the future of a child and their biological family. Our foster program is designed to provide temporary, trauma-informed care of children who are unable to reside with their biological families. Children in foster care need strong and supportive caretakers who are willing to work with their biological families and the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to reunify them with their families. More than half of children placed into foster care are reunited with their families successfully, and foster parents are a critical part of that success rate.

Basic Requirements to Foster:

  • Must be at least 21 years of age
  • You can be single, married or in a domestic partnership
  • You will need to be able to demonstrate financial stability to meet your own family’s needs
  • You can be a working or stay-at-home parent
  • You can choose the age-range and gender of child you are most comfortable parenting
  • You can rent or own your home
  • You can be licensed for one to six beds, depending on space availability

There are various types of care that may be most suitable for your specific situation:

  • Respite Care
  • Emergency Shelter Care
  • Short-term Care (under six months)
  • Long-term Care (over six months)

The Division of Child and Family Services is the only foster care licensing agency for the following fifteen counties in Nevada:

  • Carson City
  • Churchill
  • Douglas
  • Elko
  • Esmeralda
  • Eureka
  • Humboldt
  • Lander
  • Lincoln
  • Lyon
  • Mineral
  • Nye County
  • Pershing
  • Storey
  • White Pine

For residents living in Clark County, please visit: Clark County, NV or call: (702) 455-0181.

For residents living in Washoe County, please visit: Foster Care Services – Have a Heart Washoe County or call: (775) 337-4470.

For residents that live outside of Nevada: National Foster Care & Adoption Directory Search – Child Welfare Information Gateway.

How to Become a Foster Family in Rural Nevada

  1. Complete your online registration & check your email to book your Inquiry phone call
  2. Complete an Inquiry call with our recruiter so any additional questions you may have get answered in detail
  3. Complete a Pre-Service Orientation online (offered on the First Thursday of each month for 2 hours)
  4. Complete your Caregiver Application and other required documents online
  5. Register and complete your live Pre-Service training online (offered monthly, 8 Hours)
  6. Complete the required background checks
  7. Complete your Home Inspection and Home Study interviews with your assigned licensing worker

Have more questions before getting started? Call Foster Care Recruiter Shelby Riley, LSW at 1-888-423-2659.

Ready to get started?
Begin your online registration now.