Colorado foster care and adoption guidelines
A foster care home is a temporary home where adults provide a safe and nurturing care for children when their parents or legal custodians need time to learn new skills or address issues to help keep their children safe and to increase protective capacity.
The primary goal of foster care is to reunify children with their parents. However, if that option is not available, adoption or another type of permanent home is the secondary goal.
Adults who are interested in adopting through the foster care system must first become a foster parent.
On this page:
- State contact information
- Foster and adoption licensing requirements
- Costs to foster and adopt
- Agency contact and orientation information
- Parent support group information
- Information about Colorado's waiting children
State contact information
Contact information
Raise the Future
Brittany Medina
720-248-5980
brittany.medina@raisethefuture.org
Información en español
Raise the Future
800-451-5246, ext. 300
kids@raisethefuture.org
Foster and adoption licensing requirements
Every prospective foster and adoptive parent must complete 27 hours of pre-service training in addition to other required training, such as CPR and first aid.
Annually, foster parents are required to complete at least 20 hours of training in order to improve their skill sets and knowledge.
You can find more information about fostering and adopting in Colorado at the CO4Kids website.
Costs to foster and adopt
Foster Care
Costs that may be incurred for fostering are fingerprints, health evaluations (for all adults and children residing in the prospective foster home), CPR/first aid, or any repairs to the home that are needed to meet requirements. The cost varies by county department or child placement agency. Be sure to ask when you are talking with an agency.
Adoption
The cost to foster or adopt often depends on the type of child placement agency used (a private or a county child placement agency). Private child placement agencies provide adoption licensing services for a fee of $1,800 to $3,500.
Private placement agencies will place waiting for children in the foster care system in an adoptive placement. When contacting private agencies please specify you want to adopt from foster care to ensure you receive the correct information. Learn more about foster care and adoption in Colorado.
Agency contact and orientation information
Information sessions
During information meetings, the licensing agency will provide information about the types of adoptions they conduct, time frames for adoption, who is involved in the adoption proces, and an introduction to the child welfare system.
If you are new to the adoption process, it is highly recommended that you attend Raise the Future’s adoption information class, which is offered the second Tuesday of every month.
You can also find a list of statewide information sessions on the CO4Kids events page.
Orientation schedules
Each county has its own orientation schedule, so please contact your local county to register for orientation.
Post-adoption support services
Locate post-adoption and guardianship support services in Colorado, including parent support groups.
Information on children
You can meet many of the children and youth in Colorado who are waiting for a family on the Colorado Heart Gallery Also see waiting children and find answers to frequently asked questions at the Raise the Future website.