Professional Foster Parent

Overview

Health Connect America is looking for a Professional Foster Parent to care for children in a stable, supportive home — whether that's your own home or one we provide and maintain. What you bring is presence: school mornings, appointments, dinners, homework at the kitchen table, and the ordinary hours in between that turn a placement into a childhood.

We walk with you from licensing forward. Pre-service and ongoing training. A mental health team you can reach any hour of the day or night. Scheduled respite, so you have real time to rest. And a monthly reimbursement to help cover the cost of caring for the children in your care. You don't need a clinical background. You need patience, steadiness, and the willingness to stay.

Responsibilities

What It Means to Be a Professional Foster Parent

As a Professional Foster Parent, you provide children with a home — offering the stability, safety, and unconditional care every child deserves. This is the opportunity to change lives as you become a vital part of a child's support system, sharing daily life with them as they grow, learn, and heal. 

The Children You'd Be Caring For

We place children and teens across Florida. Like any kids, they want to be known, to belong somewhere, and to have someone in their corner. Many are also carrying trauma or moves that didn't work out, and they need caregivers who can stay steady on the hard days — with our team steady right beside you.

We are especially interested in Professional Foster Parents who have the space, flexibility, and desire to support sibling groups or 3-4 youth at once. Placement decisions always account for approval requirements, available space, each child's individual needs, and your family's capacity.

What Professional Foster Parenting with Us Looks Like

• Provide a stable, continuous presence for the children in your care.
• Meet each child's physical, emotional, educational, social, spiritual, and cultural needs with a trauma-informed, compassionate approach.
• Take part in the decisions and meetings that shape a child's path forward, including court hearings and school planning.
• Partner with the broader care team to support each child's individual plan for growth and healing.
• Coordinate medical, dental, and mental health care, support medication needs safely and help each child succeed at school.
• Keep the home safe and welcoming and report any concerns about a child's wellbeing.
• Model warmth, respect, and healthy relationships in daily life with the children and their families.

Two Ways to Professionally Foster with Us:

Option 1: Live-In Professional Foster Home Option

For qualified Professional Foster Parents, the opportunity may be available to live in a home provided and maintained by Health Connect America while caring for children placed in the home. This option can significantly reduce the housing-related financial responsibilities traditionally associated with maintaining a foster home.

Option 2: Use Your Own Home + Enhanced Financial Support

Already have a home with room to foster? Qualified Professional Foster Parents may choose to provide care from their own residence.

In addition to the standard foster care reimbursement/stipend associated with children placed in the home, additional financial and household assistance may be available based on placement needs, family circumstances, program eligibility, and available resources.

Additional assistance may include support toward expenses such as:

• Rent or mortgage-related housing expenses
• Utilities
• Home maintenance or modifications required my licensing 
• Furnishings
• Other approved resources that help maintain a safe and stable foster home

Availability and amount of additional assistance may vary and will be determined based on individual circumstances, applicable requirements, and available program resources.

Support When it Counts

Health Connect America provides a team-based model designed to support both the children and the Professional Foster Parent.

Depending on the needs of the children and home, support may include:

• Program Service Coordination, providing hands-on assistance with the children and help support 24/7 supervision and stabilization needs within the home
• 24/7 access to agency support when challenges or urgent needs arise
• Clinical and behavioral health support
• Pre-service and ongoing training and coaching
• Scheduled respite and relief
• Assistance with appointments, transportation, routines, activities, and other day-to-day needs
• Foster care reimbursement/stipend for children placed in the home
• Potential additional financial and practical resources to support the stability of the foster home

Our goal is to build a support system around the Professional Foster Parent so that caring for children with higher or more complex needs is sustainable for the entire household.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements of Becoming a Professional Foster Parent

• Can be either married or single.
• Must be at least 25 years of age.
• Must be both physically and emotionally healthy enough to care for a child.
• Must successfully complete required background checks.
• Must complete the foster home approval and training process.
• If fostering from your own residence, the home must meet applicable foster care safety and approval requirements.
• Must be willing to collaborate closely with Health Connect America and the child's broader care team.

What Happens Next

Licensing takes time. Here's the path:

You can stop at any point. Most families who make it through have questions at every step — that's expected, and we'd rather you ask them early.

Questions first? Reach us at 844-866-HOPE (4673).