Kansas · foster care
How to become a foster parent in Kansas
Kansas licenses family foster homes through the Department for Children and Families' Foster Care Licensing division, and every home is sponsored by a licensed child placing agency such as KVC, TFI, or Saint Francis Ministries. You'll choose an agency, apply on DCF's FCL 401, clear fingerprint, KBI, and DCF registry checks for your household, finish 30 hours of TIPS-MAPP pre-service training (or the 21-hour Deciding Together option) plus first aid, CPR, medication administration, and universal precautions, and complete a family assessment and home survey with your agency. The license DCF issues runs on a 12-month renewal cycle. Several of those pieces run at the same time — your community can walk with you through each one.
15 steps, checked against Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), Foster Care Licensing Division’s own pages as of 2026-08-23. Read the source.
The process
15 steps, in 9 stages
Steps with no “after” note below don’t wait on each other — the Kansas process names only the orderings that are actually real; everything else can run at the same time.
Exploring foster care
Learn how foster care licensing works in Kansas
Kansas foster care is overseen by DCF, and the family foster home license itself is issued by DCF's Foster Care Licensing division. Every licensed home must be sponsored by a licensed child placing agency (CPA), which trains you, helps assemble your paperwork, and supports you after placement.
Talk with current foster parentsOptional
Ask an agency to connect you with families who already foster, or bring your questions to a foster parent in your community. KVC's FAQ covers the common ones — who can foster, what fostering involves, and what support looks like.
Learning the requirements
Check the basic requirements
To foster in Kansas you must be at least 21 years old, pass criminal and child welfare clearance checks, complete 30 hours of pre-service training, and offer a home that meets state requirements. You will also need a source of income other than foster care reimbursement.
Choose your sponsoring child placing agency
Every Kansas family foster home must be sponsored by a licensed child placing agency, so pick the agency you will license through — KVC, TFI, Saint Francis Ministries, EmberHope Youthville, Cornerstones of Care, and others serve different parts of the state. Talk with more than one: you will train with this agency, license through it, and lean on it after placement.
Informational meeting
Attend an agency information meeting
Contact the agency you have chosen to get started. Agencies typically begin with an informational meeting or intro call to explain fostering, answer your questions, and lay out their process before the paperwork begins.
After Choose your sponsoring child placing agency
Application
Submit your foster home license application (FCL 401)
With your agency's help, complete DCF's FCL 401 Family Foster Home Application packet, including form FCL 002 listing every occupant of your home age 10 and older for background checks and a self-drawn floor plan with measurements of the bedrooms and windows foster children will use. It goes to DCF's Foster Care Licensing division in Topeka.
After Attend an agency information meeting
Takes about Up to 90 days for DCF to process a complete application
DCF form FCL 401 - Foster Home Licensing Application Checklist
Complete health assessments and TB tests for your household
Every person living in your home (other than children in foster care) needs a health assessment by a Kansas-licensed physician or approved nurse, done within one year before your application or no later than 30 days after it. Everyone 16 or older who lives, works, or regularly volunteers in the home also needs a record of a negative TB test.
DCF Kansas Laws and Regulations for Licensing Family Foster Homes (June 2024)
Background checks
Complete fingerprinting and background checks
Everyone in your home age 18 or older submits fingerprints for a national (NCIC) criminal history check, and everyone age 10 or older gets a Kansas Bureau of Investigation check plus a DCF child abuse and neglect registry check; substitute caregivers age 14 and older are checked too. Bring a government-issued photo ID and DCF's fingerprint form FP-1020 when you are fingerprinted — your prints then stay enrolled in the KBI's ongoing Rap Back monitoring.
After Submit your foster home license application (FCL 401)
Home study
Complete your family assessment (home study)
Your agency's social worker completes a family assessment alongside your TIPS-MAPP training: in-home consultations, interviews with everyone in your household, references, and a mutual decision built around the Twelve Criteria for Successful Fostering and Adopting. It is a two-way conversation — you are deciding whether fostering fits your family while the agency prepares its recommendation.
After Attend an agency information meeting
Pass the initial home survey
Your agency's licensing social worker surveys your home in person using DCF's FCL-403 initial survey instrument, checking it against the family foster home health and safety regulations. If the survey turns up items to fix, you correct and document them before the licensing recommendation goes to DCF.
After Submit your foster home license application (FCL 401)
DCF form FCL-403 - Family Foster Home Initial Survey Instrument (CPA)
Training
Complete TIPS-MAPP pre-service training
Kansas requires an instructor-led, department-approved preparatory program before licensure: 30 hours of TIPS-MAPP (Trauma Informed Partnering for Safety and Permanence — Model Approach to Partnership in Parenting), usually 10 weekly 3-hour sessions, or the 21-hour Deciding Together (TIPS-DT) option, a one-to-one meeting series with your family that runs about seven weeks. Your sponsoring agency enrolls you.
After Choose your sponsoring child placing agency
Takes about About 30 hours (10 weekly 3-hour sessions); 21 hours for TIPS-DT
Get certified in first aid and CPR
Before your license is issued you must pass an instructor-led first aid course with a post-test and an instructor-led CPR course with a skills test, applicable to the ages of children who will be placed with you. Keep your CPR certification current for as long as you are licensed.
Complete medication administration and universal precautions training
Kansas licensing rules also require training in medication administration and in universal precautions before a license is issued. Your agency schedules both, typically alongside your other pre-service classes.
Licensing / approval
Receive your family foster home license
When your application, background checks, health records, family assessment, home survey, and training are complete, DCF's Foster Care Licensing division issues your family foster home license (or a temporary permit while the full license is finalized). Your renewal date is 12 months after issuance — each year you submit a renewal application and complete at least 8 clock-hours of in-service training, at least 2 of them instructor-led (K.A.R. 30-47-806).
After Complete TIPS-MAPP pre-service training, Complete health assessments and TB tests for your household, Pass the initial home survey, Complete your family assessment (home study), Get certified in first aid and CPR, Complete medication administration and universal precautions training, Complete fingerprinting and background checks, Submit your foster home license application (FCL 401)
First placement readiness
Prepare your home for your first placement
You cannot care for foster children until DCF issues your temporary permit or license, so use this stretch to finish the practical prep: set up the bedroom from your floor plan, gather clothing and supplies, and talk placement preferences with your agency. Your license caps capacity — no more than 4 children in foster care and no more than 6 children total counting your own children under 16, with at most 2 children under 18 months in the home (K.A.R. 30-47-804) — so plan your space around it.
After Receive your family foster home license
You don’t have to do this alone
aVillage is how a church wraps practical care around a family going through this exact process — meals, rides, respite, and a team that actually shows up.
Common questions
Is this the official Kansas process?
This is a plain-language summary, not the regulation itself. Every step above links to Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF), Foster Care Licensing Division’s own page or the binding rule — read those for the authoritative version, and confirm anything time-sensitive directly with your agency.
Does aVillage run background checks or issue licenses?
No. Your state agency (or the private agency it works with) does the licensing and the checks. aVillage tracks your own progress through the process and helps your church support you along the way.