How to Become a Foster Parent in Louisiana: The Step-by-Step DCFS Process
How to Become a Foster Parent in Louisiana: The Step-by-Step DCFS Process
Becoming a foster parent in Louisiana means working through one state agency — the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) — using a specific application pathway that is different from most other states. Louisiana does not use the widely known MAPP or TIPS training models. It has its own curriculum. Its legal framework is built on a civil law tradition that functions differently from common-law states. And its geography — nine administrative regions covering 64 parishes — creates real variation in how the process unfolds on the ground.
If you are seriously considering fostering, this is what the process actually looks like from inquiry to certification.
Who Administers Foster Care in Louisiana
DCFS is the state agency responsible for certifying and supporting foster families. Within DCFS, the Home Development unit recruits, licenses, and monitors foster homes. Louisiana is divided into nine administrative regions, each with a regional office that serves as your primary point of contact throughout the process. Those regions cover all 64 parishes, and Louisiana law specifically requires that children be placed close to their home parish whenever possible — which means regional demand for certified families is real and local.
Private licensed child-placing agencies — including Catholic Charities (CCANO), Volunteers of America Greater New Orleans, and Methodist Foster Care — can also certify foster homes, particularly for therapeutic or specialized placements. But the majority of general foster care certification flows through DCFS directly.
The Seven Steps to Foster Care Certification
The typical certification timeline in Louisiana runs four to nine months from initial inquiry to receiving your license. The range is wide because the speed largely depends on how quickly you complete your paperwork, when background check results return, and your regional office's current workload.
Step 1: Inquiry and Orientation
The process begins with a phone call to your regional Home Development Office. There are nine regional offices, so you contact the one that serves your parish. After initial contact, you attend a mandatory informational orientation that gives you an overview of what fostering in Louisiana involves, what DCFS expects, and what you can expect in return.
The orientation is not a screening event — it is informational. Its purpose is mutual: DCFS shares what the process looks like, and you get enough information to decide whether to proceed.
Step 2: Submit Your Application
Following orientation, you receive the formal application packet. This includes:
- The DCFS foster care application forms
- Initial criminal background check authorization forms
- Medical examination forms for all household members
- A financial disclosure worksheet
Applications submitted with incomplete documentation are the number-one cause of processing delays. Submitting complete paperwork the first time — including signed medical forms from a physician and a detailed monthly financial statement — keeps your file moving.
Step 3: Background Clearances
Every adult living in your household must pass a multi-layer background check. This is non-negotiable and applies whether the person is a co-applicant or simply a resident of your home.
The checks required include:
- Fingerprint-based FBI check conducted through Identogo or an AFIS location
- Louisiana State Police (LSP) criminal history check
- State Central Registry (SCR) search for any prior child abuse or neglect findings in Louisiana
- Sex Offender Registry verification at both state and national levels
- Official Driving Record for any applicant who will transport foster children
Fingerprint results can take four to eight weeks. Out-of-state checks take longer. Starting this step as early as possible — immediately after submitting your application — is the most effective way to avoid delays.
Step 4: Complete Deciding Together Training
Louisiana uses a training curriculum called Deciding Together, developed by the Child Welfare Institute. Most states use the TIPS-MAPP group model; Louisiana chose a more consultative approach. Deciding Together runs approximately 15 to 21 hours across seven individual sessions conducted with a DCFS Home Development Specialist.
The sessions cover the legal system and your role as a resource parent, child development and the impacts of trauma and neglect, working with birth families to support reunification, trauma-informed discipline strategies, and the final mutual-selection process where both you and DCFS confirm readiness.
This is not a lecture series. It is designed as a two-way conversation where your suitability and preparedness are assessed through discussion, not testing. The "mutual selection" framing is intentional — DCFS wants you to make an informed decision, not just pass a checklist.
In addition to Deciding Together, you will complete auxiliary certifications: CPR and First Aid (renewable every two years), Safe Sleep training if you plan to care for infants, Medication Administration, and the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard training.
Step 5: Home Study Assessment
A DCFS Home Development Specialist will conduct at least three home visits to evaluate your living space, interview household members, and review your personal history and family relationships.
The physical inspection reviews specific safety standards: smoke detectors and a working fire extinguisher, bedrooms that provide at least 75 square feet for the first child and 55 square feet per additional child, no more than four children per bedroom, water temperature between 100°F and 120°F, and — uniquely to Louisiana — a documented hurricane evacuation plan with at least two destination options.
If you have a pool, it must have a functioning fence and a pool alarm. DCFS will reimburse up to $40 for the alarm, but the fencing is your responsibility. Homes on well water rather than municipal supply may also require water testing.
The home study also includes a written autobiography, at least five personal references (three non-related), proof of income, and documentation for every household member.
Step 6: Certification Review
Once your home study file is complete, a DCFS Program Supervisor reviews the entire package — background checks, training records, home inspection results, and the specialist's written assessment. This review confirms that all standards have been met and approves the license.
Step 7: License Issuance and Placement Readiness
You receive your official foster care certificate and are placed on the active placement list. When DCFS needs a home for a child, they contact certified families based on the child's needs and your approved placement capacity. Before you accept any placement, you are entitled to all known information about the child — medical history, behavioral background, and educational status.
Basic Eligibility Snapshot
Louisiana's eligibility requirements are intentionally broad. You do not need to be married, own a home, or have biological children. The core requirements are:
- Age: Minimum 21 for non-relative foster parents; minimum 18 for kinship (relative) placements in some circumstances
- Residency: Must be a Louisiana resident and a U.S. citizen or legal resident
- Income: Must be sufficient to meet your household's needs without relying on foster care reimbursement
- Criminal history: No convictions for violent crimes, sexual offenses against children, murder, manslaughter, or felony child abuse; some non-violent prior offenses may be reviewed through a waiver process
- Health: All household members must submit a physician-signed medical statement
Single individuals, divorced or widowed applicants, and same-sex couples are all eligible. Cohabiting unmarried partners are also eligible, but both adults must complete the full background check and training process.
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What the Foster Care Reimbursement Covers
Louisiana provides a monthly board rate to cover the child's basic needs. As of the July 2025 update, rates range from approximately $508 per month for children ages 2 to 5 up to $626 per month for children 13 and older. These rates cover room and board, clothing, allowance, and incidentals. They are not income — they are reimbursement for the child's expenses.
Children placed in Louisiana foster care are automatically enrolled in Healthy Louisiana (Medicaid), and working foster parents can receive reimbursement for licensed child care enrollment and service fees.
Where to Get the Louisiana Foster Parent Guide
Louisiana DCFS publishes a 100-page Foster Caregiver Handbook. It covers every policy and procedure in the system. What it does not do is tell you how to prepare for your home study inspection so you pass on the first visit, how to organize your documents to avoid the processing delays that stall most applications, or how to navigate Deciding Together scheduling around a non-traditional work schedule.
If you want that practical layer — the kind of preparation guidance that experienced foster parents wish they had before starting — the Louisiana Foster Care Licensing Guide compiles it into one actionable resource built specifically for the DCFS process.
One Regional Note
The nine regional offices do not have identical cultures or workloads. The New Orleans metro (Region 1) and Baton Rouge (Region 2) tend to have higher case volumes. Rural regions like Alexandria (Region 7) or Monroe (Region 9) may have longer travel times for home visits, which can affect scheduling. None of this changes the minimum statewide licensing requirements — those are uniform — but it does affect how quickly your file moves. Ask your regional Home Development office directly about their current processing timeline when you make your initial call.
The First Step Is the Phone Call
Every foster parent in Louisiana starts the same way: a call to the regional Home Development Office that serves their parish. That conversation is low-commitment. You get information. DCFS gets a record of your interest. Nothing is decided.
If you are ready to take that step — or want a clearer picture of what you are walking into before you do — the Louisiana Foster Care Licensing Guide gives you the orientation that orientation alone does not.
Get Your Free Louisiana Foster Care Quick-Start Checklist
Download the Louisiana Foster Care Quick-Start Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.