While our family is licensed through Encourage Foster Care, choosing an agency that fits your family is an important part of your journey.
Where to Start
When we decided to take the next step in our foster care journey, we weren’t sure where to start. Then we ran into a couple that were fostering at our church’s combined summer service. As we talked to them, they told us that they were licensed through Encourage Foster Care. We didn’t know anything about private foster care agencies, but were given a contact number so we could make the next step.
Why Encourage?
There are multiple avenues someone can take for becoming a licensed foster caregiver. Each route has different benefits and resources that may make one choice a better fit than another. For us, Encourage offered a Christian foundation and community that we found essential as we embarked on our journey. In addition to the county worker that oversees the cases of our kids, we also have an Encourage worker that works with us. This additional support offers stability, encouragement, and resources as we navigate the system.
What is Encourage?
Their website shares the heart of Encourage. 
“Encourage Foster Care recruits, trains and licenses foster parents. We provide trauma-informed training and supportive services to foster families. We specialize in treatment foster care and prioritize sibling groups, older children, teens, and children with medical needs. Our heart is for these youth to experience safety and connection.
Encourage is a part of a trio of ministries with Encompass Christian Counseling and Christian Children’s Home of Ohio. Our nonprofit organization has been addressing the social and emotional needs of children and families for more than 50 years.”
What is a Treatment Foster Home?
This additional layer of specializing in treatment foster care homes was important for us.
“Treatment foster homes care for the higher-level needs of children or teens who have medical, emotional and/or behavioral issues. Encourage supports foster families throughout the youth’s stay in their home with weekly intensive case management, mental health counseling and psychiatric services as needed. Our goal is to equip treatment foster parents with the physical, emotional and logistical help needed to come alongside hurting kids. At Encourage, we work as a team and with community partners to provide wrap-around care for children and families. This added layer of support helps make lasting change for the whole family.”
Making the Right Choice
I do not believe there is any right or wrong choice when pursuing your fostering license. For us, Encourage offered the support, foundation, and community that we felt we needed on our journey. Childcare funding, respite options, county of residence, trainings, child behavior & characteristic preferences and more may all play a role in selecting the right licensing agency for your family. I encourage anyone interested in fostering to check with your local county and research additional options to make the best decision that will give you the support your need.
