Want to be a foster family? - Kia whai mahi Mātua Whāngai koutou?

Become Foster Parents

Kia riro Mātua Whāngai

Open Home Foundation needs Christian people who are willing to open their homes and hearts to children and young people in our nation.

Fostering a Child

Whāngaitia te Tamaiti

Caring for other people’s children can be demanding work.  It can also provide tremendous rewards.  There is nothing more satisfying than seeing broken lives made whole, families restored, young people become who they are meant to be.

You may want to offer a permanent home to a young person who can no longer live within their family/whanau or you may be offering to provide respite which may assist in keeping a family together.

Assessment and Accreditation of Foster Parents

Aromatawai me te Tohutuku o ngā Mātua Whāngai

To ensure a high quality of care, it is Open Home Foundation policy to see that our foster parents go through an assessment, training and accreditation programme to prepare them for the task. 

This requires the foster parent family/whanau to undergo an:

• Assessment interview

• Police check (including boarders and other adults in the home over 17 years of age)

• A medical check

• Foster parent initial training course

• A Child, Youth and Family record clearance

• Reference checking

• A home safety check

Foster Parent Training Course

Whakangungu Mātua Whāngai

A foster parent initial training course is 18 hours.  Attendance at this course is compulsory.  Where applicable it is important that both husbands and wives attend.  Foster fathers have a very important part to play as role models for children coming into our care. 

The course aims to:

• Equip foster families with skills to care for other people’s children

• Familiarise foster families with the legal responsibilities involved

• Inform foster families of the rights and obligations involved in caring for other people’s children

• Give instruction regarding the risks involved in foster care, how to minimise them, and how to keep both themselves and the children placed in their care safe

• Provide information on the way Open Home Foundation operates and the assistance foster families can expect

Foster Parent Training Course (Special Needs/Disability)

Whakangungu Mātua Whāngai

As a person providing short or long term care to a child with special needs/disability you will receive training which will be both generic - to give you an overview of a disabilities and techniques that will equip - and specific - tailored to enable you to meet the needs of the child coming in to your care.  Preparation is always the priority.

Supporting Foster Families

Tautoko mō ngā Mātua Whāngai

The Open Home Foundation tries to share with foster families the responsibility of caring for a child or young person.  It does this through:

Prayer support: Every placement that is made is supported by a prayer partner – either a friend of the foster family/whanau, or by Open Home Foundation.  Prayer partners maintain confidentiality in all matters.  They commit themselves to pray for the foster family/whanau.

Foster Parent Social Workers are responsible for the recruitment and assessment of prospective foster families and the provision of training to equip people for this role.  Foster Parent Social Workers have a responsibility to support the foster parents in their ministry of providing care.

Social Workers maintain a complete and comprehensive overview of the child's or young person’s circumstances.  They work together with the foster family/whanau and the child or young person and their family/whanau.

Financial support:  Board payments from OHF are made to foster parents on a fortnightly basis for all children in care.  The Board payment and any allowances are non taxable and not counted as income for benefit purposes.

To discuss becoming a foster parent for the Open Home Foundation or to receive an application please contact your local Service Centre (details – OHF Locations Page)