Foster Care Placement Types in Nova Scotia: Long-Term, Therapeutic, Respite and More

Most people who call the provincial recruitment line at 1-800-565-1884 have one image in their head: a child staying in a stable home until they're grown. That picture is real, but it describes only one of six placement types the Department of Community Services recognizes. Choosing the wrong category — or not knowing your options — can mean turning away placements you'd have been well suited for, or accepting one that stretches your household in ways you weren't prepared for.

Here is what each type actually involves.

Emergency, Short-Term, and Long-Term Care

Emergency care homes agree to accept children on very short notice — sometimes a same-day call — when DCS removes a child and needs an immediate safe bed. Placements typically last up to 72 hours while the agency assesses the birth family or finds a more suitable placement. The commitment is availability, not duration.

Short-term care covers placements lasting from several weeks to several months. These homes support children while their birth parents work toward specific goals outlined in the Service Plan. The expectation is eventual reunification, and your role includes facilitating Family Time visits and providing DCS with regular updates on the child's progress.

Long-term care is what most people picture. Children are placed with you because reunification has not been possible within the court-mandated timeline — usually 12 to 18 months under the Children and Family Services Act — and no kin placement was available. With 766 children currently in the Minister's care in Nova Scotia and the number of community-based placements declining, long-term homes are the type DCS recruits most urgently for.

Per diem rates for these three categories are $19.00 per day for children aged 0 to 9, and $27.50 per day for children aged 10 and older. These amounts are intended to cover food, household supplies, and the child's share of utilities.

Kinship Care

Kinship placements go to a relative or a person of significance — a godparent, a close family friend, a neighbour the child has known for years. The per diem is identical to that of a regular foster home. The assessment process is the same SAFE (Structured Analysis Family Evaluation) framework, though the evaluation weight shifts toward the pre-existing relationship and the stability it provides for the child.

Kinship placements are generally prioritized over stranger placements because maintaining the child's existing attachments reduces trauma. If you are a relative who has been asked by DCS to take a child urgently, you can request emergency kin approval, which allows placement before the full assessment is complete, subject to safety checks.

Respite Care

Respite homes provide temporary relief for primary foster families — typically one or two weekends per month — or for birth families in crisis who need short-term support without triggering formal child welfare proceedings. Respite care is also used to give foster parents a planned break so they can avoid burnout over a long placement.

The respite rate is capped at $56.00 for a 24-hour period. You do not need to be approved as a long-term foster home to become a respite provider, though you must still complete the full application and PRIDE training.

If you are an experienced foster parent considering a secondary approval as a respite provider for another family, talk to your placement social worker. It is a practical way to remain connected to the system during periods when you cannot take a full-time placement.

Therapeutic and Specialized Care

Therapeutic foster care — sometimes called specialized foster care in Nova Scotia — is for children with complex medical, emotional, or behavioural needs that require more intensive support than a standard home can offer. This includes children with histories of severe trauma, significant mental health diagnoses, complex developmental profiles, or medical conditions requiring active management.

These placements come with enhanced per diem rates above the standard $19 or $27.50, clinical team support, and usually a dedicated clinical social worker who works with you directly. The higher financial support reflects the higher skill demand: caregivers in therapeutic roles typically complete additional training in areas such as trauma-informed care, FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) caregiving, and nonviolent crisis intervention (NCI) before accepting these placements.

Nova Scotia requires all foster parents to complete NCI training within one year of their first placement, with annual recertification. For therapeutic homes, this training is foundational rather than supplemental.

If you are considering therapeutic or specialized care, the guide at /ca/nova-scotia/foster-care/ covers what to expect from the clinical support structure and how to access enhanced training before your first therapeutic placement.

Concurrent Planning

Concurrent planning is not a separate placement type in the regulatory sense, but it is a planning philosophy that affects how long-term and short-term placements are managed. Under concurrent planning, DCS simultaneously pursues reunification with the birth family and prepares for a permanent alternative if reunification does not succeed.

As a foster parent in a concurrent planning case, you may be the intended adoptive parent if reunification falls through. This means the child you are caring for may eventually become a legal member of your family without changing homes. Nova Scotia's foster-to-adopt pathway uses this model heavily, and families in it receive both foster care per diem support and adoption preparation resources.

The key distinction: you must be willing to support reunification genuinely and actively, even if you hope the child will ultimately stay. Social workers assess this willingness during the SAFE home study. Families who signal — even informally — that they are unwilling to facilitate birth family contact will generally not be approved for concurrent planning placements.

Choosing the Right Category

There is no obligation to be approved for all types. Many families start with short-term or respite care and move toward long-term or therapeutic placements as their experience builds. Your placement social worker will discuss your preferences during the home study and match placements accordingly.

What Nova Scotia needs most right now are long-term homes for older children and teenagers, therapeutic homes for children with complex needs, and respite providers to support existing foster families across all four regions. If any of these align with your capacity, the Nova Scotia Foster Care Guide can help you prepare your home study and understand what each role specifically requires.

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