Family Works

Be the difference in a child's life.

Become a foster parent.

A Treatment Foster Care Agency Serving Youth Throughout Wisconsin

Wisconsin Children Need Foster Parents

Right now, many Wisconsin children are waiting to be placed in a loving, compassionate foster home. Will you be the one who steps in to help? If you’re ready to open your heart and home, we’re ready to train and support you.

Family Works places children from difficult circumstances into healing home environments with caring foster parents throughout the entire state of Wisconsin. We train, license and fully support every one of our foster parents. In fact, many of our foster parents cite our agency’s high level of support as the primary reason for their success in foster parenting.

Family Works is there for you the whole way. We couldn’t have done this without them period. You have every support you need.

Learn About Family Works

Foster parents play a critical role in the life of every child they help. Their homes and families become the safe, nurturing, healing places that children and teens need to thrive.

When children are placed in a stable family environment, where they receive love, acceptance, care, and consistency they can flourish. They can learn valuable life skills that will help them in school, in their friendships, in reaching their goals for independence, and most importantly in rebuilding relationships with their family members.

What’s Your Why?

The Licensing Journey

Becoming a Multicultural Family

How Family Works Places Foster Children in Wisconsin

Family Works is a Treatment Foster Care Agency, which means we place children with social, emotional, mental health or physical needs into the care of our foster families. When we place children with foster parents, it’s like putting together an intricate puzzle.

We take every child’s needs into consideration: their background, their reason for being placed in foster care, and the type of family environment they need to thrive. We also consider the capabilities and preferences of foster parents: their home and neighborhood, the amount of time they have available, their own children and family dynamics, the community support, and the level of support they are able and willing to provide.

Our commitment to the children we place and the foster parents we train continues well beyond the initial placement. We check in regularly with you. We provide in-depth, monthly training on topics like how to work with children who have experienced trauma, how to de-escalate a situation, and how to encourage children to experience the world in a more positive manner.

Everyone deserves to be loved for who they are, not for the things they do right or wrong, but for who they are as a person.

— Foster Parent

Why You Should Become a Foster Parent with Family Works

You may be wondering, “Do I have what it takes to be a foster parent?” As any parent will tell you, parenting isn’t easy. And being a foster parent can be challenging, but the rewards are endless. The good news is you’re not alone.

Family Works is 100% committed to the children we place. And we are 100% committed to the parents and families who foster these children. You won’t feel like you’re alone. You’ll always have someone you can call to ask for help.

We’re on call to help you 24/7.

Family Works provides resources and community for our foster parents:

Who Should Become a Foster Parent

Foster parents provide security, safety, love, and a place of belonging for children may be missing some of those things in their lives. These children have all experienced some level of trauma. Some of them have developed coping behaviors that now create problems for themselves and they’ve gotten “stuck” in these habits. The best place for them to free themselves of these coping habits is in a family setting.

You don’t have to be rich or have a big house to be a foster parent. You don’t have to be a stay-at-home-mom or stay-at-home-dad to be a foster parent. You don’t even have to be married. You simply need to be committed to doing what’s best for the child, be willing to learn and grow, and have a deep desire to make a change in a child’s life.

You won’t become a foster parent overnight. To become a foster parent, you must complete background checks and fulfill specific training requirements. If you don’t already have parenting experience, you will be asked to gain experience by providing respite foster care — which means you stand in temporarily for another foster family.

Family Works follows the Levels of Care licensing process designed by the State of Wisconsin. A foster parent’s license level will coincide with the parenting experience and level of training. To learn more about Levels of WI Foster Care.

If there is anyone on the fence about being a foster parent, you are closer to making that decision than you think. Because you are on the fence. There is something about your life, your world that you know is going to benefit a child. Take that leap over – know that you are not alone…..they are there to help you. They are hands on the whole way……there hasn’t been a time when I didn’t feel supported.

— Family Works Respite Care Provider

We Need Respite Providers

You can give treatment foster parents much needed breaks by becoming a respite provider. Whether you have a few hours to help or even a few weeks, the time you are able to give makes a difference.

Being a foster respite provider is also a good way to get a feel for what it’s like to be a foster parent, while working toward becoming licensed yourself.

Family Worksis looking for more respite foster providers all across Wisconsin. Discover how you can support foster care families through respite care.