Foster Parenting & Adoption

Foster care provides children with a temporary home until the child can be safely reunited with his or her family. A child comes to the attention of our agency by referrals from many sources. Every effort is made to work with the family to keep the child at home. In some cases, the child must be separated from his or her family until the family can stabilize. When a court decides children cannot safely return home, an adoptive home offers them a permanent, stable, loving family.

When children are placed in foster care or adoption, care givers are responsible for meeting the children's basic needs. Foster placements and most adoptive placements are eligible for financial support from the agency to assure the needs of these children are met. Foster homes are temporary places to stay, while adoptive homes are forever. However, both must be loving and safe environments where children can learn to give and receive love, and develop to their full potential.

Binti is a new foster parent licensing module that will help guide prospective foster parents through the inquiry process, provide basic information, and help introduce the individuals to the foster parent recruiter so the recruiter can provide more in-depth information and guidance as the individual(s) navigate the foster parent licensing process.

Families can access Athens County Children Services Binti by using the following link: https://family.binti.com/users/signup/athens-county-approvals

Please follow the link for more information on fostering and adoption and to begin the inquiry process. There is no pressure to continue the process any further than what you are comfortable.

Many children in foster care and adopted children have grown to be successful citizens, parents, employees and community leaders. They have reached success because their foster and adoptive parents believed in their potential and did not give up, even when things got tough. We need parents who have faith in themselves and in children, who believe they can make a difference in a child's life, who are willing to take a chance and who are willing to learn.

Parenting is a tough job. It can take a while to see the rewards, but there is nothing more satisfying than seeing those rewards. There is no other endeavor with such long lasting effects. We have included a recorded information meeting below so you can learn more about Athens County Children Services and the foster care system, and licensing process to help you better determine if foster caregiving or adoption is the right fit for you and your family.