About the foster family
About the foster family
A foster family is a family where children who cannot live with their biological families are raised. It is a family where children are taken care of and raised as if they were one’s own, where they feel warmth and support, and are given the opportunity to grow up and develop in safety and love.
It is always a temporary form of children’s care. It is long-term, but its purpose is to prepare children for returning to their biological families, entering adoption, or beginning independent adult life.
Key facts
Foster family: raising children in a family of Ukrainian citizens
Status: foster parents may be a married couple or a single person
Remuneration: benefits (monetary allowance) are paid by the state for raising children
Number of children: one to four children can be placed into an foster family
Children’s category: a foster family cares for children who are orphaned and deprived of parental care. During martial law, other children deprived of parental care may be temporarily placed into such families
Co-residence: children are raised and reside together with the foster family
Period: children may live in the foster family until they turn eighteen or graduate from their educational establishment. Children with disabilities may, at their discretion, continue living in a foster family until the age of twenty-three, whether they study in general secondary, vocational, professional pre-higher or higher education establishments or not
Children’s rights: children shall preserve their status, the right to all benefits and housing, and the right to communicate with their biological family
Who can be Foster family parents?
A foster family may be created by a married couple or a single able-bodied and healthy adult with their own housing (in case of a married couple, these requirements apply to both spouses).
Who may not be Foster parents?
Foster parents may not be the persons specified in Article 212 of the Family Code of Ukraine:
- persons who have been found to be legally incapable or to have limited legal capacity;
- persons deprived of parental rights if these rights have not been restored;
- Individuals who have already adopted or hosted the child for care, but the process has been cancelled through their fault;
Children who can be placed into the Foster family
Children with the status of being orphaned or deprived of parental care shall be placed into an foster family for care and co-residence:
- children who are orphaned — children whose parents have died or have been killed, confirmed on a death certificate;
- children deprived of parental care — children whose parents fail to take care of them for the following reasons:
Care line
How can you welcome a child into your family?
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