Ashtabula County
Children Services
440-998-1811
It’s not enough to be a good person.
You’ve got to be a patient one.
A brief look at the challenges and the rewards at different stages of a child's development.
Resources
“9 Misperceptions about Foster Parenting”
Ray Deck put together this really helpful video. Don‘t forget to check out that super poster on the wall behind him.
“Phill Our Home”
Subscribe to this series from the Phillips family. They integrate foster kids with their own biological kids. Reality TV should be this good. Their You Tube channel is always updated and they answer questions regularly.
“My past, my story is not my fault. And it doesn’t have to define my future”
This short film accurately and powerfully portrays the emotions of a foster child, and serves as reminder: if you can believe that no child or situation is hopeless, you can change a life.
Your desire to foster a child is commendable. We need more like you. The kids need more like you.
It may have taken quite a bit of introspection for you to arrive at this point. It will take a good deal of work for you to continue on successfully through to having that young one placed in your care. Like you, we only want what’s best for a child. So we make sure every foster parent is as prepared as can be.
You will attend 24 hours worth of training over a wide spectrum of parenting subjects. It’s rigorous training, but will provide you with the tools and the confidence to take on this important responsibility of parenting a child who has experienced trauma. The training will also provide you with information on how to work cooperatively with the primary family to support the child throughout the reunification process.
After training, your case worker will conduct a home study, interviewing you and any members of your family also living in the home, and your house will receive a safety inspection. During that time, you will come to really know your caseworker, and your case worker will get to know you, your family, and what your days to day life is like.
Once you complete training and receive your certification, you may have to wait a few months before a child comes to stay with you. It is very, very important that you and the child fit well together, so it is very, very important that your caseworker identifies the very best match possible.
To get a better idea of what to expect after you get your first foster child, watch the videos and review the resources on this page. Then, once you feel ready to take the next step, call the Ashtabula County Children Services Board at 440-998-1811. Or just click on the button below.
