FAQ

Yes, absolutely. We will compensate you well enough that you don’t need to work outside of the home unless you choose to. Foster parents are paid per-day, per-child in their home and are paid on a monthly basis.

Yes, we provide you with training during the application process and on an ongoing basis. The training generally happens in a location close to your home and includes a wide variety of topics.

You will have a worker assigned to your home from the beginning. They will be happy to provide as much support as you would like! We also have nurses, clinical staff & CYWs to support as needed.

Absolutely! We think that the best chance of success is when you help us to figure out the right profile for you/your family. We will work with you to determine the ages, sex and number of kids that makes the most sense to you. We always try to match a child according to the family & child’s identity characteristics. We will call you with the profile of a child and you will talk it through with our placement team and with your family/supports before making a decision.

The child may live with you for anywhere from a few days to several years. Almost always, the goal is for reunification with the family of origin however, this is not always possible. In those cases, the goal is ALWAYS permanency: Most often permanency comes from adoption. Over the years, we have seen lots of adoption by community members and by Milestone caregivers. There is no expectation and no guarantees regarding adoption. 

Children are referred to Milestone through a variety of Child Welfare (Children’s Aid Societies) in Ontario. Children are placed in foster care when there is a need.

Children are placed in foster care because they, or their family, need some support. Typically, children come into care because of protection concerns, behavioral issues or because the family (or child) is in crisis. 

The time frame on this is variable. It depends on where you live, the age groups and number of children that your home can accommodate and the identity matching required for the children being referred on any given day. We have foster parents who have had placements arranged for the same day that their home is opened. We have had foster parents who have waited 2-3 months. 

Yes! Regardless of whether you are applying as a couple of an individual, we will work with you to identify people in your life who can act as a support to you during your fostering career.

No, you do not need to own your home. 

Yes. There are limitations to this but, with proper planning, some of our foster parents do work outside of the home. 

Our placement person will give you a call to talk about any child who might be a good fit with you/your family. Once everyone agrees that you are the bet match, the child will be brought to your home by a worker from the referring agency. Someone from Milestone will be there to help you navigate the intake. For the first little while, the child will learn about you and the routines in your home: You will learn all about the child during the first few days!!!  It can be a scary and exciting time for everyone involved but don’t worry because we are here to provide you with all the support you want. 

Milestone offers our foster parents all kinds of support:

Resource worker – You will have a dedicated Milestone worker who will take care of all of the case management for your children. They are will liaise with the referring agencies and will be available to you as much as needed. The Resource Worker will become a really important member of the team and will become an important advocate for you and the children in your home. 

Clinical support for the foster child – Each child is entitled to receive therapy from a Milestone clinician. This therapy typically happens twice a month. 

Clinical support for the foster parent – Foster parents may access our clinical team or clinical training programs for guidance about caring for the children placed in the their home. 

Infant support – Our Registered Nurse will attend the home of anyone who has a new infant placed. Typically, the nurse attends once within the first 7 days and again within the first 30 days. The idea is that we want to support you in the specific needs of any infant placed in your home.

Child and youth support – Milestone has a large team of Child and Youth Care Workers who are dedicated to providing 1:1 support to the children in our care on an as-needed basis. 

Relief – Each foster parent is entitled to paid relief/respite – Self-care is a big deal to us and we really want to ensure that you get some well-deserved time off!

Drive support – Foster parents are compensated $0.50/km for driving foster children to professional visits, access visits and medical appointments. If a foster parent is unable to do a drive, we can arrange for a driver to fill-in.

Training – Milestone offers lots of specific pre-service training. Some trainings are also offered annually. We host an annual symposium where we bring in a keynote speaker to talk with our entire group about a current parenting dilemma as identified by you! If a foster parent has specific training needs or wishes, we are always happy to accommodate this. 

Generally speaking, yes. There are times when we are able to make an exception to this practice so, if you do not have access to a vehicle and are interested in fostering, please get in touch with us so that we can determine if an exception can be made. 

Foster parenting in Ontario has certain requirements as legislated in the Child, Youth & Family Service Act, 2017. Some of Milestone’s requirements are the law and some of our requirements are unique to us. We will need you to complete an online application. You will go through a homestudy process with our recruiter  – This involves meeting with you and anyone else living in your home. Through this process you will learn about Milestone and we will learn all about you. Our recruiter will check your references and will need to see evidence from a health care practitioner that everyone in the home is fit for fostering. We will do background checks to see about any personal involvement with Children’s Aid and with the criminal justice system. You will attend lots of training and have lots of conversations with us. The process for becoming a foster parent typically takes anywhere from 2-6 months!

We have foster homes located all throughout south-central Ontario. Our homes stretch as far north as Barrie, as far east as Bowmanville and as far south/west as Brantford. The majority of our foster homes are located in the GTA.