Louisiana · foster care
How to become a foster parent in Louisiana
Louisiana certifies foster and adoptive parents through DCFS or a licensed private child-placing agency. You'll attend an orientation, submit an application, clear fingerprint and State Central Registry checks for every adult in the home, finish about 21 hours of pre-service training plus CPR/First Aid and the mandated reporter course, and complete a three-visit home study before certification. Several of those run at the same time — your community can walk with you through each one.
18 steps, checked against Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS)’s own pages as of 2026-08-09. Read the source.
The process
18 steps, in 9 stages
Steps with no “after” note below don’t wait on each other — the Louisiana process names only the orderings that are actually real; everything else can run at the same time.
Exploring foster care
Learn how foster care works in Louisiana
Read about DCFS foster parenting, the need across Louisiana, and what's expected of foster/adoptive (resource) parents.
Check Louisiana's basic eligibility
You must be at least 21; single, married, divorced, or widowed all qualify. You'll need income that meets your own family's needs, good physical/emotional/mental health, and adequate space in your home for a child.
Learning the requirements
Choose your certifying agency
Certify directly through DCFS or through a licensed private child-placing agency that partners with the state. Your application, training, and home study all run through the agency you choose.
Review Louisiana's resource family standards
Confirm the household, health, and home requirements for certification — the standards live in LAC 67:V.7315 (Foster and Adoptive Certification).
Informational meeting
Attend a DCFS foster/adoptive informational meeting
Certification starts with an orientation that explains the whole process. Regional schedules are on the DCFS calendar; your recruiter registers you.
Takes about One session
Cost: Free
Application
Gather your household documents
Before the application: copies of car insurance and registration, current driver's license, Social Security cards, birth certificates for everyone in the household, and verification of your current marital status.
Submit your Louisiana resource family application
Complete and submit the certification application to DCFS or your chosen agency — usually handed out at orientation or during pre-service training.
After Choose your certifying agency, Attend a DCFS foster/adoptive informational meeting, Gather your household documents
Cost: Free
Provide personal and household references
At least five references, with at least three from people not related to you (one may be an employer). Your agency sends the reference forms once you've applied.
After Submit your Louisiana resource family application
Provide physician statements for your household
Documentation from a physician that every member of the household is free of communicable disease.
After Submit your Louisiana resource family application
Background checks
Complete state & FBI fingerprint background checks
Every adult (18+) living in the home is fingerprinted for state and federal criminal history checks — scheduled through your agency after you apply.
After Submit your Louisiana resource family application
Cost: Fingerprinting fee applies
Clear the State Central Registry
Child abuse & neglect registry clearance for every household member 18 or older, dated within 45 days of certification — plus clearances from any other state where an adult in the home lived during the past five years.
After Submit your Louisiana resource family application
Cost: Free
Home study
Complete your home study / family assessment
At least three consultation visits on different dates — two in your home — with a joint interview, individual interviews with each applicant, and a group interview with everyone living in the home. The finished study is approved by a licensed professional before certification.
After Submit your Louisiana resource family application
Takes about Three visits over several weeks
Pass a home safety inspection
One home-study visit includes a safety inspection: working smoke detectors, safe water temperature, medications and hazards locked away, and adequate sleeping space for a child.
After Submit your Louisiana resource family application
Training
Complete pre-service resource parent training
About 21 hours of DCFS's quality-parenting pre-service curriculum, "A Journey Home," usually spread over weekly sessions. Both applicants in a two-parent home attend.
After Attend a DCFS foster/adoptive informational meeting
Takes about About 21 hours (weekly sessions)
Cost: Free
Complete CPR & First Aid certification
Infant/child AND adult CPR plus first aid, through the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, or an equivalent — required before certification and kept current afterward.
Takes about A few hours
Cost: Course fees vary; some agencies host free classes
Complete the DCFS mandated reporter training
Louisiana's free online mandated reporter course at dcfs.la.gov — required before certification and annually afterward.
Takes about About an hour
Cost: Free
Licensing / approval
Receive your Louisiana foster/adoptive certification
DCFS or your agency certifies your home once training, clearances, references, medical statements, and the approved home study are all in.
After Complete the DCFS mandated reporter training, Complete state & FBI fingerprint background checks, Pass a home safety inspection, Complete your home study / family assessment, Provide personal and household references, Provide physician statements for your household, Complete pre-service resource parent training, Clear the State Central Registry, Complete CPR & First Aid certification
First placement readiness
Prepare your home for a placement
Set up space, supplies, and an emergency/support plan for a child's arrival — your community can help stock the room.
After Receive your Louisiana foster/adoptive certification
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 Louisiana process?
This is a plain-language summary, not the regulation itself. Every step above links to Louisiana Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS)’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.