Supportive Homes

November is National Adoption Month and here in Rockland we are taking action to raise awareness and support foster and adoptive parents. Last week our Department of Social Services launched a new website, https://fosterrockland.com/, which features an online portal that modernizes the foster parent licensing process and will help match foster children and teens with the best foster family.

We recognize that each and every child has the fundamental right to grow up in a safe and supportive home. Fostering a child is an opportunity to help them thrive and make a real difference in their life.

This new portal makes it possible for families and/or individuals to seek information about fostering and adopting in Rockland and apply online, resulting in quicker and easier access to the application process while providing more choices of potential homes for Rockland youth.

The online portal streamlines the certification and approval process for prospective foster parent applicants (as well as for renewal of licenses). In addition to applying online, perspective foster parents can track the process of their application and certification. The entire application process is mobile-friendly, so applicants and agency staff can navigate the software using a computer, tablet, or mobile device.

In addition, the portal is an educational tool allowing prospective families to learn about the important need for foster care, the impact a foster parent has on the lives of children and information on becoming a foster parent.

Our Department of Social Services is always looking for qualified and committed people who are interested in becoming foster parents. Foster home recruitment is a key element to the success of adoptions in our diverse county. Over the past 10 years, 77 children in Rockland County have been adopted by their foster families.

We are making incredible strides here in Rockland thanks to the tireless efforts and compassion of our adoptive and foster care parents. The launch of this new website will make things a little bit easier for all those dedicated parents through better information gathering and more accessible training.

I urge anyone who has ever thought of being a foster parent to reach out to us and get more information or visit this new website: https://fosterrockland.com/