Foster parents may be legally married couples or single individuals (aged 21 or older). Couples who are not legally married are unable to be licensed. Same-sex couples are included in this requirement.

Foster parents must be US citizens or legal residents.

Foster parents and all persons aged 18 and older in the home must pass background checks.

Foster parents need to be financially stable and able to support their family without assistance from the state.

Foster parents need to be healthy enough to care for children, as determined by their medical provider.

Foster parents will not be licensed to do both foster care and daycare at the same time.

While foster parents can be homeowners or renters, there are physical aspects of your home that are important. In sum, your home needs to be clean, in good repair, and free from health and fire hazards. It also needs to have enough room for any children you intend to foster.

Complete 38 hours of pre-service training.

In addition to state and federal training requirements, QYS provides training on following the essential components of Together Facing the Challenge (TFTC) that includes:

• Provides comprehensive training for both agency staff and treatment foster care parents in classes of 15-30 participants

• Builds a therapeutic relationship – recognizes the significance of the therapeutic relationship by exhibiting both verbal and non-verbal behaviors that include:

• ​Encouragement

• Showing a genuine interest

• Identifying common ground

• Having a positive attitude

• Being patient, understanding, consistent, and following through

• Explores trauma-informed care – identifies situations in which a child's traumatic past can impact their ability to form positive relationships; coaches direct care providers on alternative strategies for parenting traumatized youth

• Develops proactive parenting strategies to reinforce positive prosocial behaviors

• Teaches cooperation – can balance the use of implementing corrective discipline strategies and techniques within the context of a supportive and therapeutic environment

• Addresses thoughts, feelings, and behavior – demonstrates an ability to assist a child in recognizing, talking about, and dealing with difficult thoughts and feelings that emerge; helps the child to understand how their thoughts and feelings can impact their behavior

• Interrupts the conflict cycle – can identify conflicts that take place and demonstrates an ability to avoid power struggles and intervene by de-escalating the situation

• Utilizes problem-solving techniques - demonstrates an ability to use a problem-solving model to address a specific problem by defining it clearly, generating multiple solutions, and selecting the solution that presents as the best based on outcomes

• Promotes cultural sensitivity - explores and supports youths' different aspects of identity, including race, ethnicity, and culture; and assists parents with creating culturally sensitive home environments

• Teaches relevant life skills – demonstrates an ability to transform daily living activities into learning opportunities to assist youth in the development of independent living skills

• Takes care of self – can recognize the impact that stress has on their lives, the 'warning signs' that make them aware of it, and the specific strategies they use to manage their stress level while taking time for self on a regularly scheduled basis

Background Screening

Utah Department of Licensing Requirements

Utah Code

Becoming a Licensed Foster Parent

Program/Provider Information

Checklist