The Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) has a single certification process that all applicants must go through to be approved to be resource parents. You can apply as a General, Child Specific, or Relative/Kinship applicant, or you can be certified as a General, Child Specific, or Relative/Kinship resource family.
General Applicant
Any child or young adult not placed with relatives, kith, or kin is placed with a certified family. Oregon welcomes and supports all families equally. Families of every race, culture, and ethnicity are needed to help children grow with a strong sense of racial and cultural identity. Applicants are considered regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation.
Child Specific Applicant
Families who apply and become certified to provide care for a specific child or young adult are called Child Specific Resource Families. Child Specific Resource Families do not plan to have other children or young adults placed with their family. These families are not considered relatives, but may know the child from the neighborhood, school, church, or other activities the family has been involved in the community. Usually, the certification ends when the child or young adult leaves the home.
Relative/Kinship Resource Parent Applicant
Relatives who apply and become a certified family for children to whom they are related are called Relative Resource Parents. Relative Resource Parents are valuable resources for children, and ODHS has a strong commitment to prioritize the placement of children in foster care with relative resource parents, when safe and appropriate. The certification process is the same as General, non-relative, resource families.