No. To be eligible for our program at least one of the prospective Placement Resource parents must be able to provide proof of citizenship in a federally recognized tribe.
Yes. A prospective Placement Resource parent must be able to prove enrollment or affiliation with a federally recognized tribe and will be considered like anyone else on the ability to meet a child's particular needs.
When prospective applicants complete an inquiry with the Resource Family Coordinator, they complete Pre-Service Training along with initial paperwork. Once this is completed, the family's application is assigned to a certification worker. Timing depends largely on how quickly the necessary paperwork is completed by the potential placement home and how quickly the background investigation information is returned to Cherokee Nation. Once the family is assigned to a certification worker, the worker has 90 days to complete your home study.Please note due to the high need of families willing to provide foster placements, these types of application will receive priority along with relative certification requests.The other option you have is to contract with a licensed professional to complete your home study. The independent professionals have a fee for their service so families should take that into consideration when determining the best method to have a home study completed. If another agency completes your home study, there would still be training required of the families on order tor ICW to complete the certification process. Also, an addendum would need to be completed for clarification.
A home study is a document developed from the information you have given to Cherokee Nation through your application, home visits, interviews, background checks, physicals, financial information, and references, et cetera. Your home study is a document which tells your life story of the types of children that you can care for in your home. Your home study will identify your strengths and tell us how many children your home will accommodate.
If you are picked as a potential placement, all parties responsible for placement decisions will review your home study, this may include caseworkers from Cherokee Nation, caseworkers from other state agencies, judges, attorneys, CASA or adoption agencies.If you are interested in working with an adoption agency or private placements, or if birthparents are requesting to choose a family they, along with the Cherokee Nation caseworker, will review your home study. This means the pertinent information such as last names, addresses, social security numbers, places of employment and names of towns will be omitted to protect your confidentiality.
Yes, you can; however, you may be charged a fee depending on the intent.
Cherokee Nation attempts to keep costs at a minimum for Placement Resource Homes. If a family is applying to be only an emergency placement, regular foster home or respite care, then all fees are waived for the family. There is a State monthly reimbursement for these types of homes. All Placement Resource Homes are responsible for the fees necessary to complete all background investigations. There may also be fees associated with releasing your home study to outside agencies or for private placements. You will also be responsible for any attorney's fees associated with any legal adoption you may finalize. There are filing fees required when your selected attorney files your adoption legal with the court clerk. These fees vary from court to court but this expense is again your responsibility.You have the option of having your home study completed by someone other than the Cherokee Nation. If this is the choice you make, you must be aware the fees charged by licensed professionals vary.
