Frequently Asked Questions

Your family makeup, interests and hobbies, along with the kind of training you receive, may make you a better match for some children than others. No two foster families are alike. What is most important is your ability to accept the child’s circumstances that brought him into care and give him the stability and individual attention he needs. You must also be able to accept the temporary nature of foster care and help a child move back to his family or move on to a permanent home.

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

All foster homes are licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in cooperation with Athens County Children Services and are recertified every two years. Prospective foster parents must complete training and have a completed home study. Persons applying to become foster parents must agree to a criminal background check with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Adoption is the permanent, legal transfer of all parental rights and responsibilities from one family to another family. Adoptive parents have the same rights and responsibilities as parents whose children are born to them. Adoption is the first step to a lifelong commitment of sharing your life with a child who has had an abusive or neglectful past. If you are interested in adopting a child with Athens County Children Services, please call us at (740) 592-3061.

Children Services is the agency mandated by law to protect children from mistreatment. The Agency also provides supportive services to keep families together. However, when a child cannot safely live with their own family, he or she may be placed with a foster care family. Youngsters are typically placed with foster families because of abuse, neglect, or unstable family situations. The job of fostering has some very specific requirements. Foster parents provide temporary care for children whose families are experiencing a crisis. Most often the goal of foster care is to reunify children with their birth families and the foster parents will be expected to work jointly with the agency to achieve this goal.