Become a Foster Parent With CHOR Youth and Family Services
CHOR Youth & Family Services places children who cannot stay safely at home with foster families in Berks County and surrounding areas, and it trains and supports the adults who open their homes. Most children enter foster care because of abuse or neglect. The goal is a treatment-focused program in a safe, supportive family environment where children feel loved while they await reunification with their birth families.
The ages served are described in two different ways. The program description says CHOR foster families support children from birth to age 21, while the heading over the Foster Care program block reads "FOSTER CARE (Male and Female, 11-Months, Ages 13-20)." Ask when you call which children the program is currently placing.
To become a foster parent, you must meet these requirements: - Be at least 21 years old and in good physical and emotional health, verified by a medical exam - Have a stable, reliable income that covers your household expenses before you accept a child into your home - Complete a Child Abuse Clearance, a Pennsylvania Criminal Background Check and FBI Fingerprinting for every household member age 18 and older - Provide three non-relative references who can speak to your character and your ability to care for children - Complete pre-service foster parent training
You do not need to own your home, but you must have adequate space for a child, including a bed and a dresser or designated area for their personal belongings. A foster child can often share a bedroom with your biological child, though children over age five cannot share a bedroom with a child of the opposite gender, some children need their own room for safety or therapeutic reasons, and a foster child may not be placed in a walk-through bedroom. CHOR assesses your home during the licensing process to make sure bedroom arrangements meet state and agency requirements.
Approved families work closely with a dedicated Case Manager and have access to 24-hour emergency on-call support, clinicians and a consulting psychiatrist. The reimbursement you receive for caring for a foster child is not considered income and is not taxable; it is meant to help cover the costs of the child's needs. All children and youth in foster care are covered by medical assistance (Medicaid), which provides health, dental, vision and behavioral health services. If your home is outside the child's original school district, Case Managers help with the school enrollment process.
CHOR holds free, no-obligation information sessions to explain the foster care program. Sessions are listed at 220 N 5th St, Reading PA on Thurs, Oct 8, 12-4pm; Wed, Oct 14, 10am-2pm; Thurs, Oct 22, 3-6pm; Thurs, Nov 5, 12-4pm; Wed, Nov 11, 3-6pm; and Mon, Nov 16, 10am-2pm. Sessions are also listed at 2450 Brodhead Rd, Bethlehem PA on Tues, Oct 6, 10am-2pm; Tues, Oct 13, 2-5pm; Tues, Oct 20, 2-5pm; Tues, Oct 27, 3-6pm; Tues, Nov 3, 10am-12pm; Tues, Nov 10, 10am-12pm; Tues, Nov 17, 2-5pm; and Tues, Nov 24, 2-5pm. The Bethlehem dates have registration listings on Eventbrite. To ask questions or register, call Jen at 610-655-5555. You can also write to jhorrocks@choreading.org or chorsfc@choreading.org.
After that, you contact a Foster Care Specialist, who guides you through the application and certification process, answers your questions and provides training and support. Once you complete training and are approved as a resource parent, you are matched with a child.
CHOR also runs Kinship Care, which supports relatives or close family friends caring for a child, and Specialized Foster Care for clients with maladaptive sexual behaviors and/or co-occurring mental health disorders. Ask about those tracks if they fit your situation.
The Main Campus, The Children's Home of Reading, is at 1010 Centre Avenue, Reading, PA 19601, and houses foster, adoption and residential treatment programs. The number listed for people interested in foster care and adoption is 610-655-5555. For general questions about the agency, the office number is 610-478-8266. Office hours are not given.
A few things to expect. Foster care is intended to be temporary, and a child may leave to reunify with birth parents or to live with a kinship caregiver; concurrent planning means working toward reunification while also exploring permanent options such as adoption. Resource parents are responsible for transporting foster children to and from visits with birth parents, court hearings, medical and dental appointments, therapy sessions and extracurricular activities; CHOR staff may occasionally assist, but that help is limited and should not be expected regularly. You are not expected to be present during a child's visits with birth parents. You may say no to a referral, and you may request a child's removal by giving written notice, called a 30-day notice. Sometimes a family says yes to a referral and the child is still not placed, for example when the county agency chooses a home closer to the birth parents. The information sessions are free; nothing is said about any cost tied to the application, clearances, training or certification, so ask when you call.
Source: choryfs.org/foster-care, read November 1, 2026.
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BI Fingerprinting Provide three non-relative references who can speak to your character and ability to care for children Complete pre-service foster parent training
In CHOR Youth & Family Services’s words
Foster care provides temporary care for children who cannot remain safely in their own homes. Most children enter foster care due to abuse or neglect. Our goal is to offer a treatment-focused program within a safe, supportive family environment—where children feel loved as they await reunification with their birth families. Our foster families support children from birth to age 21, providing care in Berks County and surrounding areas. They work closely with a dedicated Case Manager and have…
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CHOR Youth & Family Services
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This listing summarizes publicly available information from choryfs.org/foster-care. Last recorded review: November 1, 2026. Contact the provider to confirm eligibility, hours and availability before you go. If something here is wrong, tell us.