Foster Care

What is Foster Care?

Foster care is a state-supported form of family care intended to ensure the material security of the child and to provide adequate remuneration to foster parents concerning the complexity of the care provided. A child may be entrusted to the foster care of an individual or the joint foster care of spouses. The legislation establishes the best interests of the child as the determining consideration for foster care. Foster care takes precedence in law over the care of a child in an institution.

If the child is capable of expressing his or her own opinion freely given his or her age and intellectual maturity, his or her opinion must be taken into account before the child is placed in foster care.

The foster parent has the right to represent the child and to manage his/her affairs only in routine matters. To carry out special matters (e.g. the processing of a travel document), he/she must seek the consent of the child‘s legal guardian or the court. If the fostercarer believes that the decision of the legal guardian is not in the child‘s best interests, he or she may seek a decision from the court. Foster care may be changed to guardianship in cases where the child‘s parents have died, been deprived of parental responsibility, had their parental responsibility limited or suspended, or had their capacity to exercise parental responsibility limited. Foster care is established by a court decision and only a court can also decide to terminate foster care. It can only do so for compelling reasons, but it must always revoke foster care if the foster parent so requests. Foster care ceases when the child reaches the age of majority. If the child is placed in foster care, the foster parent is obliged to promote the child‘s association with his or her biological family and persons close to the child.

Children placed in foster care typically know their biological parents. In some cases, contact is frequent, in others it is scarce. Children in foster care have their original family and this should be respected. The legislation directly obliges the foster parent to maintain and nurture the child‘s relationship with his or her parents, other relatives, and persons close to the child. Foster parents are also obliged to allow contact between parents and the child unless the court orders otherwise.

What is Temporary Foster Care?

A specifictype of mediated fostercare is temporary fostercare, which is intended to fulfill the institute of crisis or temporary placement of a child outside his/ her own family. The court may, on the proposal of the social and legal protection of children authority, entrust a child to temporary foster care to persons included in the register kept by the regional authority for:

• the period during which the parent cannot raise the child for serious reasons (for health reasons, serving a prison sentence, etc.);
• the period after which the parent‘s consent to the adoption may be given;
• the time until a final decision of the court that there is no need for parental consent to adoption.

This last case is the situation when the parent shows a lack of interest. A parent‘s lack of interest in the child is deemed to be undisputable if the parent has not expressed genuine interest for over 3 months. However, if the behavior of the parent cannot be regarded as a gross violation of the parent‘s obligations, the parent must be informed by the child welfare authority on the possible consequences of his or her behavior and at least three months must have elapsed since such instruction before the court decision. The court decides whether the parent is not interested in the child upon the application of the social welfare authority as the child‘s guardian or the application of the parent.Fostercare for a transitional period may last no longer than 1 year. In exceptional cases, especially if it is clear that the steps already underway are leading to the child being placed in long-term care, the child may be placed in temporary foster care again.

Who can become a foster parent?

Any adult person who:

• can provide continuous care of a child and ensure their proper upbringing and all-round health, psychological and social development,
• resides in the Czech Republic,
• agrees to cooperate with the system of professional services which also includes continuing education.

A child can be placed in joint foster care to both foster parents only if they are married.

With the consent of the other spouse, a child can be entrusted to the foster care of only one of the spouses.

A child can also be placed in foster care by an individual (a person who lives alone without a partner, one of the unmarried partners or one of same-sex partners).

Foster Care Mediation

• Submitting a foster care mediation application at the municipal office in the place of your permanent residence (in the case of spouses, the permanent residence of one of them). The application form together with a short questionnaire can be obtained directly from the office or you can download it from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs website. You will find links to both of the documents, the application form and the questionnaire, below.
• Assessing of applicants by the municipal office – a social worker will conduct a home visit in the applicant's family at the place of their actual residence. After collecting all necessary documentation (proof of citizenship or permanent residence in the Czech Republic, a health report, criminal record, and information on your economic and social circumstances), the application will be forwarded from the municipal office to the relevant regional office, including a report from the home visit.
• Assessing of applicants by the regional office – the regional office will arrange a psychological assessment of the applicants and a contracted medical examiner will inspect their medical report. At the same time, the applicants will be enrolled in preparatory courses for adopting a child into the family. The expert assessment of applicants focuses primarily on their personality characteristics, their psychological and health status with regards to the necessities which raising a foster child obtains. The motivation of the applicants that led to the application for adoption is also assessed, as well as the quality of their relationships and the stability of their family environment. The attitudes of other family members are also taken into account, especially those who share a common household. Part of the professional assessment is also an evaluation of applicants' involvenment during the preparatory courses.
• Enrollment to the register of future adoptive parents – based on the former professional assessment, the regional office will issue an administrative decision on whether or not to enroll the applicants in the register of future foster parents. Applicants have the option to file an appeal against the decision if they disagree with the outcome of the decision.
• Choosing the right family for a child – the regional office keeps records of children who are eligible for foster care. Choosing a new family depends on the child's legal situation, the child's needs and the applicant's ability to fulfill the child's needs. The regional office does search for children who match family's desires but looks for a family who can accept the child as she/he is.
• Meeting the child – the chosen family is contacted by the regional office, introduced to the child's documentation in detail and then given a personal contact.

Remuneration and other benefits for foster families

• Foster parent’s remuneration (for mediated foster parents)
• Foster care allowance (for non-mediated foster parents)
• Allowance to cover the child’s needs,
• Contribution for taking a child into care,
• Contribution for the purchase of a personal motor vehicle

Follow-up information and links

• Guide to Adoption and Foster Care (2022)
• Foster Care Application form
• Foster Care questionnaire
• Overview and division of foster care benefits
• Where to submit your Application