Foster Care and Becoming a Foster Parent With CONCERN
CONCERN Professional Services for Children places children who cannot live with their birth parents in foster homes, and recruits, trains and supports the families who take them in. Foster parents provide the alternative living arrangement when it has been determined that a child cannot remain in the home of his or her biological parents, and CONCERN matches children with the families best able to meet their needs. CONCERN provides supportive services to foster families such as compensation, the National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC), and respite care as needed.
The children range from birth to age 21 and come from a variety of ethnic, racial, LGBTIQA+ and religious backgrounds. They may have histories of abuse, neglect, severe medical problems or delinquency, and are currently unable to live at home. More than half of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, and on occasion agencies in other states, use CONCERN as a placement option. Regional offices take home location into account and try, where possible, to find homes close to the child's birth family home and school district.
CONCERN runs several levels of foster care: - Traditional Foster Care, for children and youth who do not need behavioral health services and do not have educational needs. - Intermediate Foster Care, for children who generally do not need more intensive help such as behavioral health services but may have more educational needs. - Intensive Foster Care, for children whose needs cannot be met in their own families and who may have significant behavioral problems or social and emotional dysregulation. - Community Residential Rehabilitation (CRR) Foster Care, for youth ages 5 to 21, in a structured foster home for a stay of 6 to 12 months depending on the youth's needs, progress and discharge planning. - Medical Foster Care, for children birth to 21 with complex medical conditions, so they can live in a home instead of a prolonged hospital stay or a long-term care facility. Foster parents are trained for the child's specific condition. - Mother/Baby Foster Care, which supports an adolescent or expectant mother in building parenting skills, arranging her infant's medical care, budgeting and household management, while enrolled in an educational program or gainfully employed. - Trauma-Focused Foster Care, for youth stepping down from a group home or residential facility. Foster parents are trained in trauma-informed care and work with behavioral health staff certified in trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy. - Kinship Foster Care, which places a child with a relative, family friend or other close community connection the child already knows. Some kinship families go through the court system to become legal guardians, while others choose to become approved through CONCERN.
Foster parents receive a daily per diem rate, paid monthly, set by the child's program. It helps with room and board, mileage, clothing, allowances, activities and direct care. Medical expenses are covered by Medical Assistance or the birth parent's health insurance, and foster parents must use providers who accept Medical Assistance payments; CONCERN can help find them in the community. Foster families can also apply for Title XX funding for childcare and for Women Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition help if the foster child is under age 5.
The first steps to becoming a foster or adoptive family are attending an informational meeting, completing a formal application, and taking part in several interviews with a recruiter. The recruiter helps families finish all the necessary paperwork and answers their questions about foster care. To start, use the Pennsylvania foster care inquiry link on the CONCERN foster care page at concern4kids.org/fostercare; there is a separate link for Maryland. The page does not say how long approval takes.
Foster families represent diverse racial, ethnic, economic, religious, LGBTIQA+ and cultural backgrounds, and people can foster regardless of marital status. There is no restriction on whether the home is owned or rented, though CONCERN recommends that foster parents who rent check with their landlord about lease restrictions and local occupancy ordinances. Under Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare regulations, no more than six children may be in the home, counting biological children under 18 and foster children under 21. Foster parents indicate how many children they will accept, and additional supports are provided when more than four children are placed in a home.
Children are court-ordered into the care of their counties, which then place them with CONCERN. The goal for each child is permanency through reunification, adoption or another planned permanent living arrangement, and the time that takes can vary widely. A judge decides when a child returns to the birth family, after reviewing the child's and family's progress and the recommendations of the county placing agency and CONCERN.
For general questions, the CONCERN corporate office is at One West Main Street, Fleetwood, PA 19522, reachable at 484-578-9600, Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm, or by email at concern@concern4kids.org. That is the organization's general contact, not a foster care intake office; the site points to a list of local offices at concern4kids.org/locations.
Source: concern4kids.org/fostercare, read September 18, 2026.
The details
In CONCERN Professional Services for Children’s words
Foster parents provide alternative living arrangements when it has been determined that a child cannot remain in the home of his/her biological parents. CONCERN provides a variety of supportive services to families such as compensation, The National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC), and respite care as needed. CONCERN matches children with families who are able to best meet their needs.
Organization
CONCERN Professional Services for Children
Organization profile in our directory →About this listing
This listing summarizes publicly available information from concern4kids.org/fostercare. Last recorded review: September 18, 2026. Contact the provider to confirm eligibility, hours and availability before you go. If something here is wrong, tell us.