License Requirements

The first, and most important, requirement is that you love kids. If you meet this requirement, review the checklist below to see whether you’d meet licensing requirements.

Basic Requirements

  • Live in Anoka County
    • Can own or rent a home or apartment
    • Home or apartment must meet fire safety codes
  • Have appropriate sleeping space in the home
    • There must be enough bedrooms for everyone
    • Foster children can share a bedroom with a child of the same sex, if the room is large enough.
    • They cannot share a bedroom with an adult or a child of the opposite sex.
  • Be at least 21-years-old, financially stable and responsible
  • Be single or married
  • Complete an application for foster care
  • Allow Anoka County to complete a criminal history background check on all household members who are 13-years-old or older
  • Abide by a “No Corporal Punishment” rule
  • Be available to transport children to visitations and medical appointments
  • Provide the County with three personal references
  • Participate in a home study that includes interviews with all household members
  • Attend on-going training (12 hours annually for each adult in the household)

Other things you should know

  • Applicants should be one year from a major life change such as a marriage, divorce, birth of a first child, or a significant loss, and two years from successfully completing chemical dependency treatment.
  • It is not necessary for an applicant to have children of their own, but it is important to have experience with children.
  • Working full time outside of the home will require flexibility to accommodate the needs of foster children. The Foster Care Social Worker will help develop a plan for visitations, transportation to medical and therapy appointments and discuss child care.
  • Foster parenting is not considered a job so you need to have enough income to meet your own household needs.
  • Child care or after-school care must be considered. School-aged children and teens need an adult to get them off to school and will need a supervised plan for after school. Foster parents may need to transport children to appointments several times a week so some form of reliable transportation is required.
  • Daycare and foster care licensing should not be started at the same time.
  • The Foster Care Social Worker will help applicants determine the approximate ages, gender, and needs of the children who could be a good fit for the home. However, foster parents make the final decision about which children to care for.