Choctaw Foster Care Program
Recruits foster care resource homes to provide Choctaw children with safe, stable and nurturing homes that are culturally appropriate when they are removed from their homes.
Eligibility
- Applicant or spouse must be a member of any federally recognized tribe
- At least 21 years of age, single or married
- Have the emotional, physical, and financial abilities to provide for a child's needs
- Submit to a search of all state and national criminal history records
- Ensure that no household member has a prior conviction of a sexual offense
- Attend pre-service training
- Ensure that no household member has a confirmed child welfare history
- Provide information for a family assessment (home study)
How to Apply
Complete the application and return via mail or fax.
Choctaw Foster Care Program
PO Box 1210
Durant, OK 74702
Fax: 580-924-0689
Additional Information
The Choctaw Foster Care program recruits foster care resource homes to provide Choctaw children with safe, stable and nurturing homes that are culturally appropriate when they are removed from their homes. If a child cannot return to their home, Children and Family Services look for permanency for the child through adoption into a home that will maintain the child’s connection to their unique Choctaw heritage.
The program licenses Choctaw resource homes throughout the state of Oklahoma and the bordering states of Texas and Arkansas that are within a 60 mile radius of the Choctaw Nation reservation, concentrating on areas where the need for foster homes is the greatest. The Adoption and Foster Care department is also responsible for ensuring that adoptions of Choctaw children are made in compliance with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) and provides resources to prospective Choctaw adoptive parents.
Services
- Assist the family in obtaining services needed
- Provide cultural enrichment programs to foster/adoptive homes
- Actively recruit within the services area for tribal foster homes
- Ensure that foster care homes complete at least 12 hours of yearly continuing education in areas such as culture, parenting, foster care, and adoption