Health and
Social Services

Foster Care

Foster parents open their homes to children in need of a safe place to live. Foster children stay in a foster home until their own home is safe or the Department of Health and Social Services (HSS) finds them a permanent home.

Children and teenagers may be placed in foster care if their parents cannot offer a safe home. Sometimes a child or teenager will be placed in foster care if their parents die without choosing a guardian or if their parents decide adoption will be the best choice for their child.

Currently, there are 203 approved foster homes in Nunavut. Daily rates paid to foster parents in Nunavut are the highest in Canada, and Foster Parent Associations are in various stages of development in Baker Lake, Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.

Role of a Foster Parent

Foster parents play an important role in helping children become mature, responsible, and productive by offering safe homes, understanding and support.

Foster Care Types

Foster families fit into one of the following foster care types:

  • Kinship Foster Care
  • Regular Pre-Approved Foster Care
  • Specialized Foster Care
Kinship Foster Care

Kinship care refers to extended family placements. The current Child and Family Services Act make extended family placements the first choice when a child can no longer live at home.

Extended family foster placements need a home study and criminal records check, but the child can be placed with relatives before the home study and criminal records check are completed. Extended family foster placements receive the same daily foster payments as pre-approved foster homes.

Regular Pre-Approved Foster Care

Regular pre-approved foster care families are community members that accept children into their home to care for and emotionally support children of other families in crisis.

These foster families must to complete an application package, have a home study completed and undergo a criminal records check. Once the application is approved, the home is designated as a pre-approved foster placement and can begin accepting foster children.

Specialized Foster Care

Specialized foster care families are able to provide medical care and extra support for children who are delayed, physically or mentally challenged, or need services like tube feeding and physical therapy.

Types of Placement

Foster families fit into one or more of the following placement types:

  • Emergency Placement - available to accept children at any time, day or night
  • Short-term Placement - available to accept a child for a short period of time
  • Long-term Placement - available to accept a child into their family for a long period of time

Foster Parent Training and Support

The Department of Health and Social Services understands the importance of foster parent training and support. Currently, foster parent training materials are being written for presentation to a select group of foster parents for input and approval.

In the meantime, foster families experiencing difficulty with a foster child are encouraged to contact the child’s assigned social worker.

Becoming a Foster Parent

Eligibility

To be eligible to become a regular pre-approved foster parent must have a clean criminal record. Sometimes, exceptions can be made depending on the nature of the offence. All applicants to be foster parents who have a criminal record are encouraged to seek a pardon through the Department of Justice.

To apply to become a foster parent, contact your local Social Services office and ask for a foster parent package and handbook.

  1. Fill out application form
  2. Get a Criminal Record Check from your local RCMP detachment
  3. Get reference letters from three people
  4. Return completed forms and reference letters to your local Social Services office