Why Fostering Matters 

Currently, there are almost 8,500 children and youth living in foster care in the Province of Ontario, and the need for stable home environments continues to grow. While there is an urgent need of foster homes at Caithkin we never rush the application process as it is important to us that our foster parents are well prepared for providing a secure home to a child who may have experienced neglect on top of emotional, physical or sexual abuse.

While each child is different and no two placements are the same all of them have to deal with the separation from their birth family. We are looking for people who want to make a difference in a child's life.

The Challenges: Difficult life experiences often produce children and youth who have a hard time expressing their feelings. It is our foster parent's role to learn how to understand and help these kids even when their behaviour may be a challenge. Their emotional responses can range from throwing tantrums to being utterly withdrawn. Others may simply reject your care and concern because it is a new experience for them and they do not know how to respond. One thing that is for certain is that Caithkin is always there to support our foster parents. We know that by supporting your family that you will be better able to provide the type of safe and caring home life each child deserves in life.

The Rewards: The rewards of foster parenting are being able to watch as a child or teen takes their own small steps through the healing process. Rewards can often only be measured in tiny victories; a genuine smile, an honest 'thank you', a real effort on a school project.

The Opportunity: We are in need of people who want to become foster parents because they want to make a difference in a child’s life and are prepared to invest their time, love, encouragement and compassion in another human being. If you are interested in finding out more about foster parenting we would love to hear from you. We ask that you please fill out our Foster Parent Inquiry Form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.