We Built This Because We Needed It

When my family decided to become foster parents, we thought the hard part would be the emotional weight of it — opening our home to children who'd been through trauma, navigating the unknowns, learning to love kids who might not stay forever.

We were right about all of that. But what we didn't expect was how hard it would be just to figure out how to get started.

Which agency covers our county? What training do we need? How long does it take? What's the difference between a county agency and a private one? How much financial support is there? Who do we even call?

The answers existed — scattered across dozens of government websites, buried in PDFs that hadn't been updated in years, or only available if you already knew exactly who to call. We spent weeks Googling, calling wrong numbers, and piecing it together.

It shouldn't be that hard. Not when kids are waiting.

We believe the biggest barrier to foster parenting isn't willingness — it's information.

Thousands of families across the country have thought about fostering. Many of them would be incredible foster parents. But the system is confusing, the information is fragmented, and most people don't know where to start.

Open to Foster exists to fix that. Enter your zip code and get clear, accurate, hyperlocal information: who to contact, what the process looks like, what support is available, and what to expect. No signup. No gatekeeping. Just the information you need to take the first step.

Foster care is managed at the state and county level. The agencies, the requirements, the reimbursement rates, the training programs — they're all different depending on where you live. A national one-size-fits-all guide doesn't cut it.

That's why we're building this zip code by zip code.

We're starting with Pennsylvania — it's where our foster care journey began, and we know the system here firsthand. But the architecture is built to support every state. We're expanding as fast as we can verify the data.

Think of it like this: you wouldn't Google "how to become a foster parent" and want a generic answer. You'd want to know what the process looks like where you live. That's what we do.

We are foster parents building a resource we wish had existed when we started. We are not a government agency. We are not affiliated with any state or county child welfare department. We are not a foster care agency.

We are a community resource — built by foster parents, for future foster parents. We research and verify our information carefully, but we always encourage you to confirm details directly with your local agency. The information on this site is for guidance, not legal advice.

If you're a foster parent, social worker, or someone with knowledge of your local system, we'd love your help making this resource more accurate and complete. This works best when the community builds it together.