Yes, absolutely. 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.

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 for protection.

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. In special circumstances, when 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.

Yes. Foster Parents are responsible for transportation of the children they are caring for.

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. We 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 Kitchener. The majority of our foster homes are located in the GTA.