Foster Parent Information
Children Served
The Helen Ross McNabb Center's Foster Care program serves children and teens that have been placed in state custody due to abuse or neglect and have behavioral or emotional problems. These children need a more specialized type of care than what they can find in a regular foster home. As a foster care agency, we place children in qualified homes with foster parents that are trained to implement therapeutic foster care.
Required Training
The completion of the Parents as Tender Healers (PATH) Training Program 45 hours which includes:
Certification in CPR and First Aid
Juvenile Delinquency training
Mental Health training
Addictions training
Therapeutic Skills training
Medication management
Foster parents must also attend 15 hours of training which is held once a month throughout every fiscal year.
Foster Parent Assessment Questions
If you can answer yes to all of the following questions, then you are eligible to be a foster parent.
- Have you been a resident of Tennessee for at least a year?
- Do you have a valid driver license?
- Can you pass all city, county, state, and federal background checks?
- Do you have a bed and a dresser for a child?
- Is your home safe and orderly? Are your medicines locked away?
- Are there fire extinguishers and smoke detectors on each floor of the home?
- Do you have a working car?
- Is your job flexible enough to transport a child to appointments?
- Are you willing to commit to transporting a child or youth?
- Are you in good physical and mental health?
- Can you participate and complete the extensive training that is required?
- Are you ok with professionals coming into your home frequently?
- Do you have a GED or a High School Diploma?
- Do you have a land line phone, or can you acquire one?
- Are you willing to deal with challenging behaviors?
- Are you willing to stick with a child/teen through thick and thin?
- Do you have a good support system to help you raise a foster child?
- Are you financially stable?
- Can you discipline in a calm, firm way?
- Can you discipline without spanking or swatting, etc?
- Are you "good" with teens?
- Are you "ok" answering personal questions?
- Are your spouse and children extremely supportive of fostering a child?
Adoption
As a part of the foster care program, adoption services are also provided by the Helen Ross McNabb Center. The Center partners with Department of Children's Services (DCS) to provide adoption services to any appropriate child and family. You must be willing to foster the child for six months.
Foster Parent Support
- 24 hour crisis support
- Monthly training sessions
- Foster parent appreciation activities
- Medical and dental services for foster children
- Assessment services and recommendations
- Educational assessment for special needs children
- Therapeutic nursery for young children with behavioral problems or developmental delays
- Outpatient services, including psychological, psychiatric, individual, and group counseling
For additional information on the Helen Ross McNabb Center's Foster Care Services, please call 865.544.5000.
The Foster Parent College offers some on-line training hours and provides more information for prospective foster parents. For a link to the Foster Parent College website, click here!
