Arkansas has a persistent need for licensed foster families. Children enter the state's foster care system every day — removed from homes where their safety was at risk — and there are never enough licensed families to place them. If you have considered opening your home to a child in need, this guide explains exactly what that process looks like in Arkansas and what you can expect.

Why Foster Parents Matter

When DHS removes a child from their home, the law requires that the child be placed in a licensed or approved foster home, shelter, or facility. The preference — and the legal standard — is family-based placement over institutional care. Children do better in homes than in facilities, and siblings do better when they are kept together.

Foster parents are not just temporary caretakers. They are a stabilizing force during one of the most disruptive periods of a child's life. They attend school meetings, take children to medical appointments, coordinate with caseworkers, and often become some of the most important people in a child's story — whatever that story ultimately looks like.

Who Can Become a Foster Parent in Arkansas

Arkansas's requirements for foster licensure are designed to ensure that children are placed in safe, stable, capable homes. They are not designed to screen out anyone who is genuinely committed to caring for children.

You can apply to become a foster parent in Arkansas if you:

• Are at least 21 years old.
• Have adequate space in your home — DCFS policy requires at least 50 square feet per occupant in each bedroom, and children of opposite sexes age 4 or older must have separate bedrooms.
• Are physically and mentally capable of providing appropriate care. All household members must have a physical examination within the past 12 months.
• Can pass background checks. All household members 14 and older must clear the Child Maltreatment Central Registry, and all household members 18½ and older must pass an Arkansas State Police criminal record check and an FBI fingerprint-based background check.
• Have a stable source of income — you must be able to care for a child even without the foster care board payment. DHS requires proof of income and will not count the board payment as part of your income.
• Are willing to work as part of a team with DHS, the child's attorney ad litem, and the court.

You do not have to be married. You do not have to own your home. You do not have to have children already. Single adults, unmarried couples, renters, and people of any religion or background can become licensed foster parents in Arkansas if they meet the requirements.

The Licensing Process Step by Step

1. Contact DHS Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) The process starts by contacting your local DHS office or reaching out to DCFS directly to express your interest. You can also work through a licensed child placement agency, which may have its own process but ultimately leads to state licensure.
2. Attend an orientation DHS requires prospective foster parents to attend an orientation session before the formal application begins. This is your opportunity to learn what foster care actually involves, ask questions, and decide whether it is the right step for your family.
3. Complete the application The formal application collects information about you, your household members, your home, your finances, your health, and your background. Everyone in the household 16 and older will be subject to background checks.
4. Background checks and registry checks DHS will conduct criminal background checks and child maltreatment central registry checks on all household members 16 and older. Certain convictions will disqualify an applicant — DHS will tell you specifically which ones during the application process.
5. Complete the home study A DHS caseworker or licensed social worker will conduct a home study — an assessment of your home environment, your background, your motivation for fostering, and your ability to care for children. This includes an in-home visit. See below for more detail.
6. Complete required training Arkansas requires all prospective foster parents to complete pre-service training before a license is issued. This training covers child development, trauma-informed care, the foster care system, working with birth families, and more.
7. Receive your license Once all requirements are met, DHS issues your foster care license. Licenses must be renewed periodically and include ongoing training requirements.

The Home Study

The home study is one of the most important parts of the licensing process. DCFS policy requires at least two visits as part of the home study — both preferably in your home, though one may be conducted virtually with program manager approval. It is not designed to find reasons to reject you — it is designed to assess whether your home is a safe and appropriate environment for a child and whether you have the capacity and commitment to be a foster parent.

A typical home study includes an in-home interview with all household members, a walkthrough of your home to assess the physical environment, a review of your application and background check results, and a written report with a recommendation.

The caseworker will ask about your childhood, your relationships, your parenting philosophy, how you handle stress, and why you want to foster. These are not trick questions. Answer honestly. The goal is to understand who you are and how a child would fit into your home and your life.

The physical inspection of your home will look at things like sleeping arrangements, bathroom access, fire safety, the presence of functioning smoke detectors, secure storage of medications and firearms, and whether the home is generally clean and safe. You do not need to have a perfect home — you need to have a safe one.

Required Training

Arkansas requires prospective foster parents to complete DCFS-approved pre-service training before a child can be placed in their home. This training is coordinated through the MidSOUTH Training Academy or other contract providers and covers topics including:

• The legal rights of foster parents and the children placed in their care.
• The impact of trauma, abuse, and neglect on child development.
• Understanding attachment and how children in foster care may struggle with it.
• Working with birth families and supporting children's connections to their family of origin.
• Managing child behaviors and de-escalation.
• Medication administration.
• The reunification goal and what that means for your role as a foster parent.

Before a child can be placed in your home, you must also have current infant, child, and adult CPR certification and standard first aid training. These certifications must come from the American Heart Association, the National Safety Council, or the American Red Cross.

After licensure, foster parents must complete a minimum of 15 hours of DCFS-approved continuing education each year to maintain their license. CPR and first aid renewal do not count toward the 15 hours — those are separate requirements.

Types of Foster Care in Arkansas

Regular foster care

Standard foster care placement for children who have been removed from their homes. Children may be placed with you on short notice, and placements can range from a few days to several years depending on the case.

Therapeutic foster care

For children with significant behavioral, emotional, or mental health needs who require more intensive support. Therapeutic foster parents receive additional training and support and typically receive a higher board payment.

Emergency foster care

Some families are licensed specifically to provide short-term emergency placement — taking in children with very little notice while longer-term placements are arranged.

Respite care

Respite caregivers provide temporary relief for primary foster families — typically for a weekend or a few days — allowing foster parents to rest and recharge while ensuring children have a safe place to stay.

Relative and Fictive Kin Placement

When a child is removed from their home, DCFS does not automatically place them with strangers. The first priority — built into DCFS policy — is to find a safe and appropriate relative or fictive kin caregiver. If a child in your family has been removed, or if you have a close relationship with a child whose parents are involved with DHS, you may be exactly who DCFS is looking for.

Under DCFS policy, a relative is anyone within the fifth degree of kinship to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption — this includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and step-relatives. Fictive kin are people who are not related by blood or marriage but have a strong, positive emotional tie to the child and a positive role in their life — this includes godparents, neighbors, and close family friends.

DCFS policy gives relatives and fictive kin preferential consideration over unrelated caregivers for every placement. When a child is removed, DCFS is required to notify adult relatives within the third degree of kinship within 30 days and explain how to be considered for placement. If you are interested, you need to act fast — contact DHS immediately and make your interest known.

Relatives and fictive kin can be opened as a provisional resource home, which allows a child to be placed with you quickly — even before your FBI background check comes back — while you work toward full licensure. During the provisional period, you will not receive the monthly board payment, but you may apply for other benefits such as SNAP. DCFS will work with you to bring the home into full compliance, but you must reach full approval within six months or the child will need to be moved to another placement.

Your Rights as a Foster Parent

Foster parents have more legal rights in Arkansas than many people realize. Under DCFS policy, you have the right to:

• Receive timely notice of any court hearing involving a child in your care.
• Attend that hearing and be heard by the court as a witness — meaning you can share what you know about the child's daily life, needs, and progress. You are not a party to the case, but your voice matters.
• Receive complete information about the child placed in your home — including their health and education records, reasons for entering care, and probable length of placement — at the time of placement.
• Receive a copy of the child's case plan and the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment.
• Be consulted before a child in your care is moved to a different placement, with written notice required at least two weeks in advance except in emergencies.
• Receive support services from DHS to assist you in caring for the child.

For a more detailed breakdown of how foster parent rights play out in dependency-neglect proceedings, see Foster Parents in a DCFS Case: Your Rights, Your Role, and What to Expect in Court.

Foster Care and Adoption

Many people become foster parents with the hope of eventually adopting. It is important to understand how that works — and how it does not.

The goal of foster care in Arkansas is reunification. When a child is placed with you, the legal plan is almost always to return that child to their birth family if it can be done safely. Foster parents who are not prepared for that reality — who become attached to a child and resist reunification — can cause real harm to the child and to the process.

That said, not every case ends in reunification. When a child's parental rights are terminated and they become legally free for adoption, DCFS policy directs that the foster family they are currently living with be given the opportunity to adopt. DCFS calls this "concurrent planning" — working toward reunification while simultaneously identifying who would adopt the child if reunification does not succeed. If you have been caring for a child and that child becomes available for adoption, you will generally be considered first.

What Support Is Available

Foster parents in Arkansas receive a monthly board payment to help cover the costs of caring for a foster child. As of August 2023, the rates are:

• Birth through age 5: $451/month
• Ages 6–11: $484/month
• Ages 12–14: $517/month
• Ages 15–17: $550/month

Children in foster care are also automatically enrolled in Medicaid, so their medical, dental, and mental health needs are covered at no cost to the foster family.

DHS also provides access to support services, training, and in some cases respite care so foster parents can take breaks when needed. Many communities also have foster parent associations that provide peer support, mentoring, and advocacy.

Fostering is not easy work. The children who need foster homes are children who have experienced trauma, loss, and disruption. They may be hard to reach, slow to trust, and difficult to manage at times. The support systems exist because the work is genuinely hard — and because the people willing to do it deserve real backup.

If you have questions about fostering, relative placement, or the legal aspects of foster care in Arkansas, I am glad to talk through your situation.