Safety Exit

Foster Care

Foster Care at AGAPE

AGAPE provides foster care for children from birth through age 17. Foster families provide children in need with safe, loving, Christian homes.

Foster Care at AGAPE

  1. Complete the Inquiry Form for potential foster parents below.
  2. Following completion of the Inquiry Form, we will contact you to discuss minimum requirements and answer questions.
  3. Prospective foster parents must attend a required Informational Meeting and complete the self-assessment.
  4. If the prospective foster family is still interested, they must complete TN-KEY pre-service training.
  5. The Home Study process begins during training and will include extensive criminal history check and other paperwork and will provide a recommendation for approval or denial.
  6. If approved, the foster home will be ready to accept placements.

Being a parent can be hard – even on the best of days – but what happens if you find yourself the middle of a crisis?

Are you facing:

  • substance abuse rehabilitation,
  • in-patient medical care,
  • psychiatric care,
  • unstable living conditions,
  • homelessness, and/or
  • mental health issues?

You may need to take care of your problems before you care for your children, and you may not have family or friends who can meet your children’s needs for an extended period of time.  You may be a legal guardian of a child who entered your home unexpectedly and its more than you can handle.  Perhaps that child needs extra nurturing during a difficult time and you are overwhelmed.

Knowing that your children are being cared for and nurtured is vital to recovery and that is how AGAPE can help.  We can provide temporary, out-of-home placement for your children with fully trained and approved Christian foster parents who are supported by our staff of professional social workers.

YOU WILL NOT BE PLACING YOUR CHILDREN IN STATE CUSTODY.

AGAPE is a private, nonprofit agency licensed to place children.  We will treat you with dignity and respect and YOU will be part of the team working to restore your family.  We know that you love your children and want to provide a stable home.  Temporary assistance with parenting may be a solution.

We are ready to help.  Contact AGAPE today for the sake of your child.  

Steps to Becoming a Foster Parent

Complete the Inquiry Form

Before registering for an Informational Meeting, first complete the foster parent inquiry form below.

Social Services Inquiry

( )   -

Address

,  

Interested in

Attend an Informational Meeting

The Informational Meeting is designed to help potential foster parents make an informed decision about whether they would like to continue with the training process to become a foster parent.

The next Informational Meeting will be held in April. To register, please complete the form under Step 3.

Register for TN-KEY

Following the Informational Meeting, participants who choose to continue with the process of becoming a foster parent will need to complete TN KEY pre-approval training.

The next TN-KEY series will begin in April. To register, please complete the form below.

Register for TN-KEY

Complete Home Study

The Home Study process begins during training and will include extensive criminal history check and other paperwork and will provide a recommendation for approval or denial. If approved, the foster home will be ready to accept placements.

Foster Parent Training


Pre-Service Training

To prepare for your role as a foster parent, you will learn effective tools and parenting methods to work with and guide the children who are welcomed into your family and gain an understanding of the different challenges faced by children who come into state custody.

Learn More

Post-Approval Training

Post-approval training is intended to support and educate foster parents so they can give the child(ren) in their care the best opportunity to thrive.

Learn More

Adoption Through Foster Care


Every Child Deserves a "Forever Family"

There are over 400 children in Tennessee in foster care who need permanent families; a home in which to grow and be nurtured. They have an immediate need for the safety and stability that only an adoptive family can provide. For those who want to adopt only, these children are waiting for a "forever family" to call their own.

Over the course of their foster placement, children in temporary care build bonds with their foster families and with the communities and churches they are part of. In almost all cases, children who become adoptable are adopted by their foster parents. This creates an ideal opportunity for a temporary bond to become permanent through adoption.  

Learn about Foster Care

Social Services Staff

Contact Us

( )   -


*If this is a counseling-related question, please call 615-781-3000.