8,841
Children in Out-of-Home Care
Kentucky children currently have active out-of-home care placements.
Become a Foster Parent
Open Your Home.
Open Your Home.
Change a Life.
You do not need to be a perfect parent to make an extraordinary difference. Children across Kentucky need safe, stable families willing to care for them during one of the hardest seasons of their lives.
Sunrise will prepare you, support you, and walk beside you every step of the way.
- Personal guidance from a Sunrise team
- Support accessible 24 hours a day
- Training and preparation before placement
- A continuum of care for your family
You don't have to know everything.
You just have to be willing to take the first step.
Kentucky Children Need Families
The Need Is Real
Behind every number is a child who needs safety, stability, encouragement, and someone willing to show up.
10
Average Age
The average current age of a child in out-of-home care in Kentucky.
2,094
Goal of Adoption
Kentucky children currently have adoption as their permanency goal.
Kentucky Foster Care Snapshot — May 3, 2026. View Kentucky CHFS source
Real Family Life
Foster Parenting Is Built in Everyday Moments.
Children do not just need a place to stay. They need people who show up, day after day. From soccer games and homework help to bedtime stories and weekend adventures, ordinary moments can become the places where trust grows and healing begins.
You don't need to be perfect. You need a willing heart, a safe home, and a team beside you.
Start the Process
What Foster Care Really Means
Foster Care Is About Family
Foster care gives a child a temporary, safe home while their family works toward reunification. As a foster parent, you are not being asked to erase a child's story or replace the people they love.
You are being asked to step into that story with compassion — providing stability, encouragement, structure, and care while a family works toward becoming whole again.
57%
of Kentucky children in out-of-home care had reunification
as their permanency goal in the May 2026 statewide snapshot.
Could I Foster?
You May Be Surprised Who Can
Kentucky foster parents come from many different backgrounds. You do not need a perfect house or a perfect life. You need the ability and commitment to provide a child with a safe, stable home.
Be 21 or Older
Kentucky requires foster and adoptive parent applicants to be at least 21 years old.
Be Financially Stable
Your household should have income sufficient to meet your family’s existing needs without depending on foster care assistance.
Provide a Safe Home
You can rent or own. Your home must provide adequate space and meet safety and health requirements.
Be Ready to Care
Foster parents must be physically and mentally able to provide safe, dependable care for a child.
Complete Background Checks
Adults in the home complete required criminal, FBI, sex offender registry, and child abuse registry checks.
Complete Training
Applicants complete required preparation, web-based training, paperwork, and the home study process.
Choosing Sunrise
Additional Sunrise Requirements
Kentucky establishes baseline certification requirements. As a private child placing agency, Sunrise also maintains agency-specific requirements for Sunrise foster homes.
Be a Kentucky resident.
Have a valid Commonwealth of Kentucky driver’s license.
Have reliable transportation and automobile insurance.
Maintain a safe home with adequate space for a child or additional child.
Be willing to complete all required background checks, pre-service training, and the home study process.
Be physically and mentally able to provide care for children.
If married, have been continuously married to and living with your current spouse for at least one year. Sunrise’s current published policy does not permit cohabitating couples.
Not sure whether you meet every requirement? You don't have to figure it out alone.
Start a Conversation
How It Works
From Interested to Ready
Becoming a foster parent takes preparation, but you will not walk through the process by yourself.
Start the Conversation
Complete the Sunrise inquiry form. This begins a conversation — not a commitment to accept a placement.
Meet the Team
Learn more about fostering, talk through your questions, and determine whether Sunrise is the right fit for your family.
Complete Training
Kentucky requires preparation and web-based pre-service training designed to help families understand the needs of children in care.
Complete Your Home Study
Your Sunrise team helps you work through documentation, interviews, background checks, and evaluation of your home.
Become Approved
Once the requirements are complete, your family can become an approved Sunrise foster home.
Welcome a Child
Sunrise works to find placements that fit your family's strengths and remains beside you after a child arrives.
How long does it take?
Kentucky says the training, evaluation, and approval process normally takes approximately six to nine months. Your individual timeline may vary.
The Sunrise Difference
You Foster.
You Foster.
We Stand With You.
The child may be placed in your home, but foster care should never feel like something your family has to carry alone.
24/7 Support
Questions and challenges do not only happen during business hours. Your Sunrise team is accessible around the clock.
A Team Who Knows You
Build relationships with professionals who know your family, understand your placement, and can help you navigate the journey.
Training & Preparation
We help prepare you to understand trauma, behaviors, transitions, and the unique needs children may bring with them.
Continuum of Care
Through Sunrise Family Services counseling and additional resources, your family can access support beyond placement.
Kentucky Foster Family Support
Resources Are Available
Daily financial assistance
Medical coverage for children
Daycare assistance
Ongoing training
Respite care
Support services
What Stops People From Starting?
Foster Care: Myth vs. Reality
Some of the things people assume would disqualify them from fostering actually don't.
“I have to own a big house.”
Reality
Kentucky allows renters to foster. You need adequate space, landlord approval, and a home that meets safety requirements.
“I can't foster because I work.”
Reality
Working parents can foster, and Kentucky indicates daycare assistance may be available.
“I need to know how to handle everything first.”
Reality
Training, your home study, and your Sunrise team are designed to prepare and support you along the way.
Foster to Adopt
Sometimes Temporary Care Becomes Forever
Foster care begins with the goal of providing temporary care and supporting reunification. But sometimes a court determines that returning home is no longer possible.
When a child's permanency goal changes to adoption, a foster family may have the opportunity to become that child's forever family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions Are Part of the Process
You should have questions. Here are answers to some of the things prospective foster parents ask us most often.
Do I have to own my home to become a foster parent?
No. Kentucky allows foster parents to rent or own their homes. Renters must have adequate space and landlord approval to care for foster children. Your home must also meet applicable safety requirements.
Can I foster if I work full-time?
Yes. Working parents can become foster parents. Kentucky indicates that assistance with the cost of daycare may be available for working foster parents.
Do I have to be married?
Kentucky permits both married and single applicants. Sunrise also has agency-specific household requirements. Under Sunrise’s current published standards, cohabitating couples are not permitted, and married applicants must have been continuously married to and living with their current spouse for at least one year.
How long does it take to become a foster parent?
Kentucky says the training, evaluation, and approval process normally takes approximately six to nine months. Individual circumstances and agency requirements can affect the timeline.
What training is required?
Kentucky currently requires a minimum of 15 hours of approved curriculum training and 15 hours of pre-service web-based training. Approved foster and adoptive families also complete ongoing training each year. Sunrise will guide you through the requirements.
Can I choose what placements I am comfortable accepting?
Yes. Placement decisions should consider the needs of the child and the strengths, experience, and circumstances of the foster family. Your Sunrise team will talk with you about the types of placements your family is prepared to support.
Will I receive financial support for a foster child?
Kentucky provides supports to meet the needs of children in foster care. These can include a daily foster care rate, medical coverage, daycare assistance for working parents, and additional assistance based on a child’s individual needs.
What support will Sunrise provide after a child is placed?
You are not expected to navigate foster care alone. Sunrise provides a team that walks alongside foster families, including support accessible 24 hours a day. Families can also connect with Sunrise Family Services counseling and other resources for a broader continuum of care.
How long does a foster placement last?
Every situation is different. A placement may be very short or may last much longer. Foster care is temporary care, and the primary goal is to help children safely reunify with their birth families whenever possible.
Can fostering eventually lead to adoption?
Sometimes. Foster care begins as temporary care with reunification as the goal. If a court later determines that reunification is not possible and the child’s permanency goal changes to adoption, a foster family may have the opportunity to pursue adoption.
What if I am interested but not sure I am ready?
That is exactly what the first conversation is for. Starting the process does not mean you have all the answers or that you are committing to accept a placement. It gives you an opportunity to ask questions and determine whether fostering could be right for your family.
Kentucky requirements and support information are based on current Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services guidance. Requirements may vary by agency. View Kentucky certification information
Take the First Step
A Child Doesn't Need You to Have All the Answers. They Need Someone Willing to Say Yes.
Starting the process does not commit you to becoming a foster parent. It starts a conversation with Sunrise about whether fostering could be right for your family.
Start the ProcessNo obligation. Ask questions. Meet our team. Discover what's possible.