How to Become a Foster Parent in Maine

Description

Foster care in Maine provides temporary, safe, stable, and supportive family-based care for children and youth who cannot safely remain with their parents. Maine commonly refers to licensed foster caregivers as resource parents. Reunification with a child's parents is the primary goal for most children in State custody whenever it can be safely achieved. Resource parents provide daily care, supervision, transportation, advocacy, educational support, healthcare coordination, normal childhood experiences, and emotional stability while supporting the child's case plan, family relationships, identity, and permanency needs.

Agency

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services, commonly called OCFS, administers the State's public child-welfare and foster-care system and licenses family foster homes. OCFS partners with A Family for ME to recruit prospective resource and adoptive parents, provide information about licensing and training, and conduct informational meetings. Contracted agencies also recruit and support families providing therapeutic foster care for children with developmental, emotional, behavioral, or medical needs.

Who Can Apply

Maine residents who are at least 21 years old may apply to become resource parents. Applicants may be single or part of a couple and may rent or own their residence. They must demonstrate maturity, sound judgment, emotional stability, suitable health, financial stability, safe and appropriate parenting practices, adequate household space, reliable transportation, and the ability to understand and meet the needs of children who may have experienced abuse, neglect, trauma, grief, separation, and instability.

Average Time To License

No single completion period applies to every Maine applicant. The process generally includes an informational meeting, submission of the resource-family application, references, introductory training, fingerprinting, criminal-history and child-protection checks, motor-vehicle review when applicable, medical information, interviews with applicants and household members, a home study, home-safety inspection, private-water testing when applicable, fire-safety approval, correction of identified deficiencies, and final licensing review.

Website

Visit the official agency website

Minimum Age

A Maine family foster-home applicant must be at least 21 years old. OCFS also evaluates the applicant's maturity, judgment, emotional stability, caregiving ability, household functioning, support system, and readiness to meet the needs of children in foster care.

Residency

Applicants for a Maine family foster-home license must reside in Maine and make their residence available for assessment, inspection, approval, renewal, and ongoing monitoring. Applicants who have lived outside Maine may be required to authorize criminal-history, child-abuse, neglect, foster-care, adoption, or licensing checks from previous states or jurisdictions.

Marital Status

Maine permits qualified single adults and couples to apply. Applicants are not required to be married. When two adults apply together, both generally participate in the application, introductory training, interviews, background checks, home study, and licensing decision. OCFS evaluates the stability, functioning, communication, and safety of the applicant's household and significant adult relationships.

Income Requirements

Applicants must have ongoing and predictable financial resources sufficient to meet their household's existing needs independently of foster-care maintenance payments. OCFS may review employment, income, expenses, debts, benefits, and other financial information during the home study. Foster-care payments are intended to help cover the expenses of a child placed in the home and may not serve as the family's primary source of support.

Home Ownership

Applicants are not required to own their home. A rented or owned house, apartment, manufactured home, or other suitable residence may qualify if it provides adequate space and complies with applicable Maine foster-home licensing, sanitation, water-quality, heating, sleeping-room, fire-safety, and environmental requirements. Renters should verify that their lease permits additional household occupants and any required safety modifications.

Bedroom Requirements

Each bedroom occupied by foster children must generally provide at least 40 square feet of floor space per person. A bedroom occupied by only one child must generally provide at least 60 square feet. Each foster child must have a separate bed with appropriate bedding and storage for personal belongings. An adult generally may not share a bedroom with a child older than age 1, and a child older than age 5 generally may not share a bedroom with a child of the opposite sex unless an approved exception applies.

Transportation

Applicants must have a safe and reliable transportation plan for school, family visitation, medical and dental appointments, counseling, court-related activities, childcare, extracurricular activities, services, and emergencies. Household members who transport foster children must maintain valid driver's licenses and comply with Maine vehicle-registration, inspection, insurance, seat-belt, car-seat, and passenger-safety requirements.

Health Requirements

Applicants and household members must be physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of safely caring for children. Applicants must authorize the release of medical information requested by OCFS and disclose health conditions, communicable diseases, mental-health treatment, substance-use treatment, medications, or other circumstances that could affect caregiving. The Department may request additional medical statements, records, evaluations, treatment information, or safety plans when necessary.

Pet Policy

Pets, livestock, and other animals are permitted when they are maintained safely and do not present a health or injury risk to children. Licensing staff may review vaccinations, veterinary care, sanitation, temperament, aggressive behavior, confinement, and children's access to animals. Additional supervision, restricted access, or a written safety plan may be required when an animal presents a foreseeable risk.

Firearm Policy

Firearms and other weapons must be stored so that children cannot gain unauthorized access. Firearms, including BB guns and air guns, must be unloaded and locked. Ammunition, projectiles, arrows, and other items capable of making a weapon operable must be locked separately. Weapon-storage arrangements are reviewed during the home-safety assessment and may be subject to additional child-specific safety requirements.

Contact Agency

Contact A Family for ME at 1-844-893-6311 or submit an inquiry through its website to learn about becoming a Maine resource or adoptive parent. Prospective applicants may also contact the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services. A relative or person with a significant relationship to a specific child should contact the child's caseworker or A Family for ME regarding kinship placement.

Attend Orientation

Attend the informational meeting required for initial applicants before beginning the resource-family application. The meeting explains the needs of children in State custody, the role of resource parents, reunification and permanency, kinship care, adoption, training, licensing standards, background checks, the home study, home-safety requirements, and the effect fostering may have on the entire household.

Choose Agency

Determine whether to pursue a standard family foster-home license directly through the Maine Office of Child and Family Services or a therapeutic foster-care program through an OCFS-contracted agency. Therapeutic agencies serve children with higher developmental, emotional, behavioral, medical, or supervision needs and may have additional assessment, training, support, and certification requirements.

Documents Needed

• Completed Maine resource-family or family foster-home application
• Government-issued identification and identifying information for each applicant
• Information about every adult and child residing in the household
• Current and previous residential-address information requested by OCFS
• Fingerprint submissions for applicants and other covered household members
• Criminal-history record-check authorization forms
• Child-protection background-check authorization forms
• Out-of-state criminal-history or child-abuse registry checks when applicable
• Motor-vehicle-record authorization and driver's-license information when applicable
• Names and contact information for three non-relative references
• Medical releases, medical statements, or examination records requested by OCFS
• Information concerning serious physical-health conditions
• Information concerning mental-health or substance-use treatment when applicable
• Information concerning prior child-protective-services involvement
• Information concerning arrests, criminal charges, convictions, protection orders, or other legal matters when applicable
• Information about previous foster-care, adoption, childcare, guardianship, or related licenses
• Documentation concerning prior license denials, suspensions, revocations, or enforcement actions when applicable
• Income, employment, benefits, expenses, and other financial-stability information
• Marriage, divorce, separation, partnership, and household-relationship information when applicable
• Employment schedules and childcare arrangements
• Transportation and vehicle-insurance information
• Emergency-contact and backup-caregiver information
• Emergency evacuation and disaster-preparedness plans
• Private-well water test results when applicable
• Fire-safety inspection or approval documentation
• Bedroom measurements and proposed sleeping arrangements
• Pet vaccination, veterinary, or animal-safety information when applicable
• Information concerning firearms, ammunition, pools, waterfront property, and other environmental hazards
• Introductory foster-parent training documentation
• Any additional records, releases, explanations, professional evaluations, exceptions, corrective-action plans, or safety plans requested by OCFS

Required

Yes

Description

Maine requires an initial applicant to attend an informational meeting before beginning the resource-family application. The meeting introduces prospective applicants to Maine's child-welfare system, the experiences and placement needs of children in State custody, the temporary nature of foster care, reunification, permanency, kinship care, adoption, licensing standards, training, background reviews, the home study, home inspections, confidentiality, teamwork, and the responsibilities of a licensed resource parent.

How To Register

Register for an informational meeting through A Family for ME by calling 1-844-893-6311 or using the inquiry options available through the organization's website. Prospective applicants may also contact Maine OCFS for assistance. Meetings may be offered virtually, in person, individually, or in another approved format depending on current scheduling and regional availability.

Duration

Maine does not publish one fixed statewide duration for every informational meeting. Meeting length and scheduling may vary according to the delivery format and regional availability. Applicants should confirm the current date, format, and expected duration with A Family for ME.

Application Process

After attending the required informational meeting, prospective resource parents may request a paper application or begin an online application through Maine's Katahdin Child Welfare System. Applicants submit the required forms and supporting records to OCFS. The licensing process includes references, fingerprinting, criminal-history and child-protection checks, review of medical and financial information, interviews with applicants and household members, introductory training, a comprehensive home study, home-safety assessment, water testing when applicable, fire-safety approval, and correction of identified deficiencies. The licensing worker then prepares a recommendation for supervisory review and final approval or denial.

Required Documents

• Completed Maine family foster-home or resource-family application
• Applicant identity and personal-history information
• Information identifying every adult and child residing in the household
• Current and previous residential-address information requested by OCFS
• Signed authorization forms for criminal-history record checks
• Fingerprint submissions for required applicants and household members
• Child-protection background-check authorizations
• Out-of-state criminal-history and child-abuse registry authorizations when applicable
• Motor-vehicle-record authorizations when applicable
• Names and contact information for three non-relative references
• Medical releases, medical statements, or examination documentation requested by OCFS
• Information concerning communicable or contagious diseases that could affect caregiving
• Information concerning serious physical-health conditions
• Information concerning mental-health or substance-use treatment when applicable
• Information concerning previous child-protective-services investigations or findings
• Information concerning arrests, criminal charges, convictions, protection orders, probation, or other legal matters when applicable
• Information concerning previous foster-care, adoption, childcare, guardianship, or related licenses
• Documentation concerning prior licensing denials, suspensions, revocations, or enforcement actions when applicable
• Information concerning any previous removal of children from the applicant's care or custody
• Income, employment, household-expense, benefit, and financial-stability information
• Marriage, divorce, separation, partnership, and household-relationship information when applicable
• Driver's-license and motor-vehicle information for household members who may transport children
• Proof of vehicle registration, inspection, and automobile insurance when applicable
• Employment schedules, childcare plans, and supervision arrangements
• Emergency-contact and substitute-caregiver information
• Emergency evacuation and disaster-preparedness plans
• Private-well water test results or other water-quality documentation when applicable
• Fire-safety inspection, approval, or corrective-action documentation
• Bedroom measurements and proposed sleeping arrangements
• Pet vaccination, veterinary, or animal-safety documentation when applicable
• Information concerning firearms, ammunition, pools, waterfront property, and other household hazards
• Introductory foster-parent training completion documentation
• Any additional releases, explanations, professional evaluations, exceptions, corrective-action plans, or safety plans requested by OCFS

References Required

Applicants must provide three references from people who know them well and are not related to them. OCFS uses reference information to evaluate character, maturity, honesty, reliability, judgment, emotional stability, household relationships, parenting or caregiving ability, and suitability to provide foster care. The licensing worker may request additional references or clarification when the original responses do not provide enough information.

Interview Process

The home-study process includes interviews and discussions with each applicant and relevant household members. Couples may be interviewed together and separately, and children in the household may be interviewed in an age-appropriate manner. The assessment examines motivation, family history, relationships, household functioning, parenting practices, discipline, physical and emotional health, finances, employment, childcare, transportation, support systems, trauma awareness, attitudes toward children's parents and relatives, ability to support reunification, cultural responsiveness, placement preferences, and capacity to work cooperatively with caseworkers, courts, schools, healthcare providers, and service professionals. Additional interviews, records, evaluations, explanations, or safety plans may be requested when concerns arise.

Required

Yes

Curriculum

Maine requires prospective resource parents to complete an introductory foster-parent training program offered or approved by the Department before receiving a full family foster-home license. Training prepares applicants to understand Maine's child-welfare system, the effects of abuse and neglect, trauma-informed parenting, child development, attachment, separation, grief and loss, positive discipline, cultural responsiveness, confidentiality, mandated reporting, reunification, permanency planning, family visitation, educational advocacy, healthcare responsibilities, normalcy, the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard, documentation, and collaboration with children's parents, relatives, caseworkers, courts, schools, healthcare providers, and service professionals.

Required Hours

Maine requires completion of the Department's introductory foster-parent training before initial licensure but does not publish one universal preservice-hour total in its general public guidance. During each two-year licensing period, licensed foster parents must complete at least 18 combined hours of approved continuing education. When a home has a secondary licensed foster parent, that person must complete at least 6 of the combined training hours. Additional training may be required for therapeutic, medical, developmental, behavioral, infant, adolescent, or other specialized placements.

Online Available

Introductory and continuing foster-parent training may be offered in person, virtually, online, or through an approved combination of formats depending upon current OCFS and provider schedules. Some parts of the licensing process, including household interviews, the home study, and physical inspection of the residence, require direct participation and cannot be completed solely through online instruction. Applicants should confirm the current training format with A Family for ME, OCFS, or their therapeutic foster-care agency.

Certification

Applicants may be required to complete or maintain current First Aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training based on Department requirements, the ages and needs of children placed in the home, or the standards of a therapeutic foster-care agency. Additional certifications or instruction may be required for medication administration, medically fragile children, therapeutic foster care, developmental disabilities, behavioral intervention, de-escalation, infant care, safe sleep, trauma-informed parenting, or other specialized placement needs.

Required

Yes

Interviews

Maine requires completion of a comprehensive home study before approving a family foster home. The assessment includes interviews with each applicant and relevant household members. Couples may be interviewed jointly and separately, and children residing in the home may be interviewed in an age-appropriate manner. The home study evaluates motivation, family relationships, communication, parenting practices, discipline, physical and emotional health, financial stability, household functioning, trauma awareness, cultural responsiveness, support systems, placement preferences, and the family's capacity to provide safe, stable, and nurturing care.

Home Visits

The licensing worker conducts one or more visits to the proposed foster home. Visits include observation and inspection of bedrooms, sleeping arrangements, utilities, heating, sanitation, water supply, emergency exits, smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors, medications, hazardous materials, firearms, pets, pools, waterfront hazards, transportation resources, and other environmental conditions. Additional visits may be required to complete interviews, verify documentation, evaluate household changes, or confirm correction of licensing deficiencies.

Topics Covered

• Applicants' motivation for becoming resource parents
• Understanding that foster care is generally temporary
• Understanding that reunification is the primary permanency goal for many children
• Ability to support family visitation, reunification, and the child's permanency plan
• Ability to cooperate with children's parents, relatives, caseworkers, courts, schools, healthcare providers, therapists, and service professionals
• Family history and applicants' childhood experiences
• Current household relationships and family functioning
• Marital, partner, or significant-relationship stability
• Impact of fostering on biological, adopted, guardianship, and other household children
• Parenting philosophy and previous caregiving experience
• Knowledge of child and adolescent development
• Understanding abuse, neglect, trauma, attachment, separation, grief, and loss
• Positive discipline practices and prohibited forms of punishment
• Ability to recognize and respond appropriately to trauma-related behaviors
• Ability to provide nurturing care, supervision, structure, consistency, and healthy boundaries
• Physical health and ability to meet children's daily care needs
• Mental and emotional health
• Medications or medical treatment relevant to caregiving capacity
• Alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, controlled-substance, and other substance-use history
• Domestic violence, protection orders, or other household-safety concerns
• Criminal-history and child-protection background information
• Financial stability, income, household expenses, and budgeting
• Employment schedules and childcare arrangements
• Transportation resources and ability to meet appointment and visitation needs
• Emergency preparedness, evacuation, and disaster planning
• Extended-family, community, faith-community, peer, and professional support systems
• Cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, linguistic, disability, sexual-orientation, gender-identity, and gender-expression awareness
• Ability to preserve children's family, community, cultural, and sibling relationships
• Protection of confidential information
• Household members' expectations and attitudes concerning foster care
• Pets, firearms, pools, waterfront property, smoking, vaping, marijuana, and other environmental risks
• Bedroom arrangements, storage, privacy, and proposed household capacity
• Placement preferences regarding children's ages, sibling groups, medical conditions, developmental disabilities, behavioral needs, and therapeutic needs
• The family's strengths, limitations, support needs, and continuing training needs
• Ability to maintain required documentation and cooperate with OCFS supervision, relicensing, and ongoing assessment

Timeline

Maine does not establish one guaranteed public timeline for completion of every home study. The assessment proceeds after the application and required releases have been submitted and may depend upon interview scheduling, references, medical documentation, fingerprint processing, criminal-history and child-protection checks, introductory training, home inspection, private-water testing, fire-safety approval, and correction of any identified deficiencies.

Bedroom Rules

Each foster child must have a separate bed with a clean mattress, appropriate bedding, and adequate storage for personal belongings. A bedroom occupied by one person must generally provide at least 60 square feet of usable floor space, while a bedroom occupied by more than one person must generally provide at least 40 square feet per occupant. A child older than age 5 generally may not share a bedroom with a child of the opposite sex unless an approved exception applies. A child older than age 1 generally may not share a bedroom with an adult unless the Department approves an arrangement based on the child's needs. Bedrooms must provide appropriate privacy, ventilation, lighting, heat, and safe emergency exit access.

Smoke Detectors

The foster home must have properly located and functioning smoke detectors in accordance with Maine law, fire-safety standards, and Department requirements. Carbon-monoxide detectors must also be installed where required. Detectors must remain operational, receive regular testing and maintenance, and be accessible for inspection during the licensing and renewal process.

Fire Extinguisher

The residence must maintain appropriate fire-safety equipment, including one or more properly rated and accessible fire extinguishers when required by the Department or fire authority. Applicants must develop and maintain an emergency evacuation plan, ensure that exits remain unobstructed, and teach household members how to respond to fires and other emergencies.

Medications

Prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, controlled substances, marijuana products, and other potentially dangerous medical supplies must be stored so that children cannot gain unauthorized access. Storage must reflect the ages, developmental abilities, behaviors, and individual safety needs of children placed in the home. Controlled medications, syringes, and other high-risk medical supplies may require additional locked storage and documentation.

Cleaning Supplies

Cleaning products, poisonous materials, pesticides, fuels, automotive chemicals, alcohol, marijuana products, vaping liquids, sharp tools, power tools, and other hazardous substances or objects must be stored safely and kept inaccessible to children. Hazardous materials should remain clearly labeled and, whenever practical, in their original containers.

Firearms

Firearms, including BB guns and air guns, must be unloaded and locked against unauthorized use. Ammunition, projectiles, arrows, and other materials capable of making a weapon operable must be locked separately. Keys, combinations, and access devices must remain under responsible adult control. Additional restrictions or a written safety plan may be required according to the ages, developmental abilities, behaviors, and histories of children placed in the home.

Pools

Swimming pools, hot tubs, ponds, streams, waterfront property, and other water hazards must be protected against unsupervised access. OCFS may require fencing, gates, approved covers, alarms, rescue equipment, swimming-safety rules, or a written supervision plan depending upon the property and the needs of children placed in the home. Children must receive active adult supervision around recreational water.

Pets

Pets, livestock, and other animals must not present an unreasonable danger or health risk to children. Resource parents are responsible for appropriate licensing, vaccinations, veterinary care, sanitation, confinement, and supervision of children's interactions with animals. Animals with aggressive behavior or another identified safety concern may require restricted access, an approved safety plan, alternative placement, or removal from the foster home.

Vehicle Requirements

The household must maintain access to safe and reliable transportation. Vehicles used to transport foster children must be legally registered, properly inspected when required, adequately insured, safely maintained, and operated by licensed drivers. Children must be transported using seat belts, child safety seats, booster seats, and other passenger restraints required by Maine law.

Fingerprinting

Maine requires applicants and other covered adult household members to complete fingerprint-based state and federal criminal-history background checks. Fingerprints and required authorization forms must be submitted before full foster-home licensure may be granted. Additional fingerprinting or updated checks may be required when a license is renewed, a new adult joins the household, or OCFS determines that another review is necessary.

Child Abuse Registry

Applicants and covered household members must authorize checks of Maine child-protection records. Individuals who have lived outside Maine may also be required to complete child-abuse and neglect registry checks or equivalent child-welfare checks from previous states, territories, countries, or jurisdictions of residence.

Criminal History

OCFS reviews state and federal criminal-history information together with child-protection records, court information, licensing history, interviews, references, and other relevant information. Applicants must disclose arrests, charges, convictions, deferred dispositions, probation, protection orders, and other legal matters requested by the Department. Failure to disclose relevant information may independently affect the licensing decision.

Disqualifying Offenses

Certain serious criminal convictions, substantiated child-abuse or neglect findings, and other circumstances may prohibit or prevent foster-home licensure under federal or Maine law. Other records may receive an individualized review considering the nature and seriousness of the conduct, the age of the record, rehabilitation, treatment, court compliance, subsequent history, references, and whether the applicant currently presents a risk to children. Some disqualifying conditions cannot be waived.

Additional Checks

Additional reviews may include Maine and out-of-state child-protection records, prior foster-care or adoption records, previous childcare or human-services licensing history, court records, motor-vehicle records for household drivers, protection orders, references, medical or treatment information, prior home studies, and any other records OCFS considers necessary to determine household safety and applicant suitability.

Steps

• Contact A Family for ME or the Maine Office of Child and Family Services.
• Attend the required informational meeting.
• Complete and submit the Maine resource-family application.
• Provide all required supporting documents, releases, and references.
• Complete fingerprint-based state and federal criminal-history background checks.
• Complete Maine and out-of-state child-protection background checks when applicable.
• Complete the Department-offered or Department-approved introductory foster-parent training.
• Participate in interviews with the licensing worker.
• Complete the comprehensive home study.
• Complete the physical home and environmental-safety inspection.
• Complete private-well water testing when applicable.
• Obtain required fire-safety inspection or approval.
• Correct any licensing, health, fire, sanitation, or environmental deficiencies.
• Receive the licensing worker's recommendation and supervisory review.
• Receive the family foster-home license.
• Discuss placement preferences and begin receiving placement calls.
• Maintain continuing training and ongoing licensing compliance.
• Complete the relicensing process before the current license expires.

Average Timeline

Maine does not publish one guaranteed licensing timeframe. Many applicants may require several months to complete the process. Timing depends upon informational-meeting and training schedules, application completeness, references, medical documentation, fingerprint processing, criminal-history and child-protection checks, interviews, the home study, water testing, fire-safety approval, the home inspection, and correction of any identified deficiencies.

Renewal Requirements

A standard Maine family foster-home license is generally issued for a two-year period. Resource parents should begin the renewal process before expiration and must continue satisfying household, health, safety, training, background-review, documentation, and reporting requirements. Relicensing may include updated application information, household-member information, background checks, references or medical documentation when requested, continuing-training records, home visits, safety inspection, review of significant household changes, and correction of any deficiencies.

Ongoing Training

Licensed Maine foster parents must complete at least 18 combined hours of Department-approved continuing education during each two-year licensing period. When a secondary licensed foster parent resides in the home, that individual must complete at least 6 of the combined hours. Additional training may be required for therapeutic care, medically fragile children, developmental disabilities, behavioral intervention, medication administration, trauma-informed care, de-escalation, infant care, adolescent care, or other specialized placement needs.

How Placements Work

After licensing, OCFS or a contracted therapeutic foster-care agency may contact the resource family when a child needs placement. Placement staff consider the home's licensed capacity, location, household composition, bedroom availability, experience, training, strengths, transportation resources, support system, and stated placement preferences. They also consider the child's safety, age, sibling relationships, school stability, medical and developmental needs, behaviors, cultural identity, family connections, visitation schedule, and permanency plan when determining whether the placement is an appropriate match.

Can Decline Placements

Yes. Resource parents may decline a placement they do not believe they can safely or appropriately support. Before accepting, families should ask about the child's age, history, behaviors, medical conditions, medications, developmental needs, educational needs, family-visitation schedule, sibling relationships, transportation responsibilities, supervision requirements, permanency plan, and available services. Declining an individual placement does not automatically affect the family's license, although repeated refusals may lead OCFS to review the family's stated placement preferences and availability.

Emergency Placements

Maine may request an emergency placement when a child must be removed immediately for safety reasons. Licensed resource homes may receive placement requests outside ordinary business hours. Maine may also place a child temporarily with a relative or person with a significant relationship to the child while required safety assessments, background checks, home-study activities, and licensing steps continue. Emergency placement does not eliminate ongoing court review, case planning, background requirements, or household-safety responsibilities.

Sibling Groups

Maine seeks to place siblings together whenever doing so is safe and consistent with their individual needs and best interests. Placement workers consider licensed capacity, bedroom space, supervision needs, transportation, school locations, family visitation, behavioral and medical needs, and available support when assessing a sibling-group placement. When siblings cannot live together, OCFS works to preserve their relationships through contact, visitation, communication, shared activities, and coordinated permanency planning whenever appropriate.

Age Preferences

During the home study and licensing process, applicants identify the ages, number of children, sibling groups, medical needs, developmental disabilities, behaviors, and placement types they believe they can support. Placement decisions balance those preferences with the family's demonstrated abilities, licensed capacity, household circumstances, available services, and each child's individual needs.

Monthly Board Rate

Licensed Maine resource parents receive foster-care maintenance payments intended to help offset the ordinary costs of caring for children placed in their homes. Maine calculates payments using the child's approved level of care, age, placement circumstances, and assessed needs. Children requiring enhanced supervision, behavioral support, medical care, developmental services, or therapeutic foster care may qualify for higher or specialized payment levels. Payment schedules and approved rates may change, so current amounts should be confirmed with the child's OCFS caseworker before publication.

Clothing Allowance

Foster-care maintenance payments are intended to help meet a child's routine clothing needs. Additional purchase reimbursement or assistance may be authorized when a child enters care without adequate clothing, requires seasonal clothing, experiences a rapid change in size, needs school or activity-related items, or has another approved extraordinary need. Resource parents should obtain caseworker approval when required and retain receipts and supporting documentation for reimbursable purchases.

Daycare Assistance

Childcare assistance may be available when care is necessary to support the child's placement, the resource parent's employment or education, required training, family visitation, treatment, appointments, or another approved case-plan need. Eligibility, provider requirements, authorization procedures, copayments, and available funding depend upon the child's custody status, placement circumstances, the caregiver's needs, and current OCFS or Child Care Affordability Program rules.

Medical Coverage

Children in Maine foster care generally receive healthcare coverage through MaineCare or another authorized coverage source. Resource parents coordinate medical, dental, vision, behavioral-health, developmental, prescription, specialty-care, and emergency services with the child's caseworker, healthcare providers, MaineCare programs, schools, and other authorized professionals. Resource parents must follow OCFS requirements concerning consent, appointments, medications, records, and notification of significant medical events.

Mileage Reimbursement

Mileage reimbursement may be available to resource parents, kinship caregivers, and parents for approved transportation associated with a child's case plan. Reimbursable travel may include family visitation, court proceedings, medical and behavioral-health appointments, school meetings, evaluations, services, and other authorized activities. Maine provides mileage-reimbursement directions and forms, and caregivers should document dates, destinations, mileage, purpose, and required approvals.

Additional Benefits

Depending upon the child's needs and placement type, resource families may receive purchase reimbursement, therapeutic or specialized foster-care payments, childcare assistance, mileage reimbursement, respite services, behavioral-health consultation, training, mentoring, material assistance, educational advocacy, developmental-disability services, placement-preservation support, and other state- or federally authorized benefits.

Respite Care

Respite care may be available to provide temporary relief, preserve placement stability, and reduce caregiver stress. Approved respite arrangements are coordinated through OCFS, the supervising therapeutic foster-care agency, Community Health and Counseling Services, Community Care, or another authorized provider. Eligibility, frequency, provider approval, and funding depend upon the child's needs, placement type, case plan, available resources, and current program requirements.

Support Groups

Maine resource, adoptive, and kinship families may participate in support groups, caregiver meetings, conferences, training events, online communities, and peer-networking opportunities offered through Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine, OCFS partners, therapeutic foster-care agencies, community organizations, and regional providers. AFFM also operates C.A.R.E.S. meetings and other supports specifically for kinship caregivers.

Mentoring

Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine provides peer support, mentoring, systems navigation, and assistance from Resource Family Specialists who have personal and professional experience with foster care, adoption, and kinship care. Mentors and specialists may help families prepare for licensing, adjust to a first placement, understand reunification, communicate with professionals, locate resources, address tangible needs, and manage challenges affecting placement stability.

Counseling

Behavioral-health, counseling, developmental, and placement-support services for children and caregivers may be coordinated through OCFS, MaineCare providers, Community Health and Counseling Services, schools, therapeutic foster-care agencies, Children's Behavioral Health Services, developmental-service providers, private clinicians, and other authorized professionals. Services are based upon the child's assessed needs, eligibility, treatment plan, and available programs.

Crisis Support

Resource parents receive assistance through the child's OCFS caseworker, resource-home licensing worker, supervising therapeutic foster-care agency when applicable, after-hours child-welfare contacts, behavioral-health providers, crisis-response programs, emergency medical services, and law enforcement when necessary. Caregivers must promptly report serious medical events, missing-child incidents, allegations, injuries, significant behavioral crises, law-enforcement contact, placement disruptions, and other urgent safety concerns.

Available

Yes. Maine permits licensed resource families to be considered as adoptive families when adoption becomes a child's approved permanency plan. Resource parents must support reunification, family visitation, relative placement, and the child's existing permanency goal while recognizing that some children may later need adoption when they cannot safely return to their parents.

Process

Children generally enter Maine foster care with reunification as the primary goal whenever reunification can be safely achieved. OCFS also explores relatives, kin, guardianship, and other permanent family options. If reunification is no longer possible and adoption becomes the approved permanency plan, OCFS assesses potential adoptive families. A resource family caring for the child may be considered based upon attachment, stability, sibling relationships, cultural identity, family and community connections, the child's wishes when developmentally appropriate, the family's ability to meet long-term needs, and the child's overall best interests. Adoption-specific assessment, disclosure, legal proceedings, termination or surrender of parental rights, and court approval must occur before finalization.

Legal Risk

Every foster-care placement carries legal and emotional uncertainty until the court establishes a permanent outcome and all legal requirements have been completed. A child may reunify with parents, move to relatives or kin, enter guardianship, be adopted by another family, or achieve another permanency plan. Resource parents are expected to support the child's parents, relatives, visitation, identity, and reunification plan even when they would be willing to adopt if adoption later became appropriate.

Adoption Subsidy

Eligible children adopted from Maine foster care may qualify for Adoption Assistance. Assistance may include a negotiated monthly maintenance payment, MaineCare coverage, reimbursement of qualifying non-recurring adoption expenses, and access to approved post-adoption services. Eligibility and benefit amounts are based upon the child's circumstances and applicable state and federal requirements, and an adoption-assistance agreement generally must be approved and signed before the adoption is finalized.

Available

Yes. Maine seeks to place children with relatives whenever safe and appropriate. Kinship caregivers may include grandparents, adult siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended-family members, godparents, close family friends, or other adults who have a significant relationship with the child or family. Kinship care can preserve family attachments, sibling relationships, cultural identity, community connections, school stability, and continuity during a child's involvement with the child-welfare system.

Licensing Differences

Maine may consider an emergency or provisional placement with a relative or fictive kin while required safety assessments, criminal-history checks, child-protection checks, home-review activities, and licensing requirements are completed. Kinship caregivers caring for children in State custody may pursue approval as a licensed resource family. Maine may consider allowable waivers or alternative methods of satisfying certain non-safety licensing standards for relatives or kin, but the home must continue to meet applicable child-safety, background-check, supervision, and household requirements.

Financial Support

Financial assistance available to a Maine kinship caregiver depends upon the child's legal status, custody arrangement, the caregiver's licensing status, household eligibility, and permanency plan. Possible assistance includes foster-care maintenance payments for licensed kinship resource homes, MaineCare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families child-only benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, childcare assistance, Supplemental Security Income when applicable, Adoption Assistance, guardianship assistance when eligible, mileage or purchase reimbursement, and support through Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine's Kinship Program.

Can I become a foster parent if I am single?

Yes. Maine permits qualified single adults as well as couples to become licensed resource parents. Approval is based upon the applicant's ability to provide safe, stable, nurturing, and appropriate care rather than marital status.

How old must I be?

Applicants for a Maine family foster-home license must be at least 21 years old.

Do I have to own my home?

No. Applicants may rent or own their residence as long as the home meets Maine's foster-home licensing, space, sanitation, water-quality, heating, environmental, and fire-safety requirements.

Can I work full time?

Yes. Resource parents may work outside the home if they have suitable plans for childcare, supervision, transportation, school schedules, family visits, court proceedings, medical appointments, services, emergencies, and the individual needs of children placed with them.

Do I need a certain income level?

Maine does not require one specific income amount. Applicants must demonstrate stable and sufficient financial resources to meet their household's existing needs without depending upon foster-care maintenance payments.

How much preservice training is required?

Maine requires prospective resource parents to complete the introductory foster-parent training offered or approved by OCFS. Maine's general public guidance does not identify one universal preservice-hour total for every applicant.

How much continuing education is required?

Licensed foster parents must complete at least 18 combined hours of approved continuing education during each two-year licensing period. When the home includes a secondary licensed foster parent, that person must complete at least 6 of the combined hours.

Do I have to complete a home study?

Yes. Every applicant must complete a home study that includes interviews, references, background reviews, household assessment, discussion of the family's strengths and limitations, and evaluation of the applicants' readiness to care for children in foster care.

Will everyone in my household undergo background checks?

Applicants and other covered adult household members must complete required criminal-history and child-protection background reviews. Additional checks may be required for people who have lived outside Maine or who regularly provide care or supervision.

Can I have pets?

Yes. Pets and other animals are permitted when they are safely maintained, appropriately vaccinated when required, properly supervised, and do not present a health or injury risk to children.

Can I own firearms?

Yes. Firearms, including BB guns and air guns, must be unloaded and securely locked. Ammunition and other materials capable of making a weapon operable must be locked separately and remain inaccessible to children.

Can foster children share bedrooms?

Yes, when the arrangement meets Maine's bedroom-space, age, privacy, safety, and individual-needs requirements. A child older than age 5 generally may not share a bedroom with a child of the opposite sex unless an approved exception applies.

Can I choose the ages of children I foster?

Yes. Applicants discuss their preferences and abilities regarding children's ages, sibling groups, medical needs, developmental disabilities, behaviors, supervision needs, and placement types during the home-study process.

Can I decline a placement?

Yes. Resource parents should accept only placements they believe they can safely and appropriately support. Families should obtain as much information as possible about the child's needs and placement circumstances before accepting.

Will I receive financial assistance?

Yes. Licensed Maine resource parents receive foster-care maintenance payments intended to help offset the ordinary costs of caring for children placed in their homes. Payment amounts depend upon the child's approved level of care and individual needs.

Do foster children receive healthcare?

Yes. Children in Maine foster care generally receive healthcare coverage through MaineCare or another authorized coverage source for eligible medical, dental, behavioral-health, prescription, vision, developmental, and specialty services.

Is respite care available?

Respite care and other placement-support services may be available depending upon the child's needs, placement type, case plan, available providers, and program eligibility.

Can I adopt a child placed with me?

Possibly. If reunification, placement with relatives, guardianship, and other permanency options are no longer appropriate and adoption becomes the child's approved permanency plan, the current resource family may be considered as a potential adoptive family.

Does foster placement guarantee adoption?

No. Foster placement does not guarantee adoption. Children may reunify with their parents, move to relatives or kin, enter guardianship, be adopted by another family, or achieve another permanency outcome based upon their best interests.

Does Maine prioritize kinship placements?

Yes. Maine seeks to place children with relatives or other safe kinship connections whenever possible and appropriate. Kinship placement can help preserve family relationships, sibling connections, cultural identity, school stability, and community ties.

Who do I contact to report suspected child abuse or neglect?

Call the Maine Child Protective Services Intake hotline at 1-800-452-1999. The hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays. Deaf or hard-of-hearing callers may use Maine Relay 711. Call 911 when a child is in immediate danger.

State Agency

Maine Department of Health and Human Services — Office of Child and Family Services

Phone

Office of Child and Family Services: 207-624-7900 or toll-free at 1-877-680-5866; Child Abuse and Neglect Intake: 1-800-452-1999

Email

Maine OCFS directs prospective resource and adoptive parents to begin through A Family for ME or contact OCFS by telephone. Background-check questions may be directed to [email protected].

Address

Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services, 11 State House Station, 109 Capitol Street, Augusta, ME 04333