The certification process can take approximately three to six months to complete.

STEP ONE
After receiving your pre-application, an Olive Crest Certification Coordinator will visit your home and discuss Olive Crest’s Foster and Adoptive programs. The Certification Coordinator will also walk-through your home and give recommendations for safety precautions according to state licensing regulations. This visit can be scheduled for a weekday or evening.

STEP TWO
An Olive Crest Case Manager or Adoption Worker will visit your family and conduct a clinical interview to gather information about your past and present family relationships and experiences. If you have children living in the home, they will be required to be present for at least a portion of the time. This visit takes approximately 4-5 hours and may be scheduled during the day or evening. (Some case managers may require more than one visit.)

STEP THREE
An assessment will take place at Olive Crest between the Certification Coordinator, Case Manager/Adoption Worker and Olive Crest’s Management team. This assessment is designed to determine your strengths as a family in relationship to the population of children we serve. In almost all cases, Olive Crest will have recommendations to help you better prepare for a foster child. In some cases, Olive Crest may recommend you wait to become a foster or adoptive family, and in very few cases, may decide to not continue processing your application for reasons that will be explained to you.

STEP FOUR
You will be contacted by your Certification Coordinator or Case Manager/Adoption Worker regarding the results of the assessment. You may also be contacted by the Case Manager/Adoption Worker with recommendations or follow-up questions. At this point you are eligible to be Pre-certified! You will be sent a Task Packet that will include the necessary materials to be electronically fingerprinted, as well as a list of paperwork you’ll need to submit and tasks you’ll need to complete prior to your certification.

STEP FIVE
All of our pre-certified parents must attend Olive Crest’s Pre-Certification Trainings. These are two, eight-hour training sessions and an Attachment training. If you are a foster/adopt family, you will be required to attend an additional Adoption training that is designed to address the special issues surrounding an adoption process.

STEP SIX
The final step to becoming certified is to have your Certification Coordinator out to your home one last time to perform the Final Walk-through. During the Final Walk-through your Certification Coordinator will need to see that your home has been adjusted to meet Licensing Regulations. Any remaining paperwork required for certification will be picked up at this time.

For additional questions, please call 1-800-74-FOSTER.