Becoming a foster parent presents a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on a child’s life. Through no fault of their own, these children have come into state care due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment from those who should have provided them with care and protection.
Our highest priority is to connect each child with a loving family who will provide a safe and supportive environment. Foster families come in diverse forms, including single-parent, same-sex, blended, and mixed-race. Shockingly, each year, more than 23,000 youth turn 18 without ever having a family to call their own, and our passion and purpose is to change that statistic for the better, one foster family at a time.
At Cornerstones of Care, our mission is to identify, prepare, and support the ideal family match for each child in the state’s care within the counties we serve.
Placement Preferences
When a child enters state custody, we work tirelessly to find a placement with a nurturing family. Research shows that it’s in the child’s best interest to safely reunify them with their family or find a relative/kinship placement with extended family or a familiar face, such as a coach or a teacher. Our priority is to keep siblings together whenever possible. We utilize Missouri’s policy for placement preference when a child is removed from their home:
- Parent
- Grandparents
- Immediate Relatives
- Kin in the Community
- Foster Parent
Become a Foster Parent
There are many reasons why people become foster or adoptive parents, such as the desire to help children, give back to the community, or parent someone who needs support. Whatever your reason, we offer various services to help you along the way.
- Recruitment and Licensing — Working with each state’s children’s division, we provide families with the training and licensing Kansas and Missouri require to become a foster parent.
- Treatment Foster Care — This is the highest level of care for youth who have experienced extreme trauma. Our team provides enhanced and individualized support to help the child placed with you find healthy ways to cope and heal with the aftermath of family separation.
- Foster Care Case Management — Services aide youth and their foster parents, relative/kinship providers, and treatment team members through coordination, support, and comprehensive case management. These efforts strive to safely reunify and unite families who have been separated, or find permanency through another timely, safe option like adoption.
Adoption Services
In Missouri, we offer adoption services through Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. This program provides dedicated adoption professionals who focus solely on finding homes for foster youth who might have more difficulty being placed. Many youth in this program are older, have special needs, or are part of a large sibling group. This program is funded through grants received from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
SOUL Family
The SOUL Family Legal Permanency Option is a new legal permanency option designed by and for young people in foster care to reflect their vision of family and supportive adult networks. In partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kansas has stepped up to be the first state in the nation to turn this innovative new permanency concept into a legal reality for young people.
Cornerstones of Care, Kansas Action for Children, and a network of statewide partners are collaborating to build the understanding, resources, services, and administrative and legal infrastructure needed to make SOUL Family a legal permanency option.
Independent Living Services
Independent Living Services provides support, resources, and opportunities to youth in Kansas foster care to help ensure they are prepared to live independently after they leave care. These services include life skills training, connections to housing, education, job skills, and community resources. Youth also receive assistance with senior photos, scholarship opportunities, and essential household items for their first dorm or apartment.
WE CREATE A LASTING
& POSITIVE IMPACT.”
