How to Become a Foster Parent in North Dakota

Right now, somewhere in North Dakota, a child is living outside their family home and needs a safe place to land. The state’s foster care system is county-administered and state-supervised, meaning local social service offices handle day-to-day work while the North Dakota Department of Human Services Children and Family Services Division sets the standards and oversees the whole thing. That structure matters for you, because the people you’ll work with most closely are in your community, not in Bismarck.

Getting licensed takes some real effort: an application, background checks, a home study, and training. The sections below walk you through each step so you know what’s coming and what to do next.

Who can be a foster parent in North Dakota?

Most people who look into foster care assume they won’t qualify. North Dakota’s eligibility requirements are broader than most people expect, and the state has deliberately kept them that way so that more children can find stable, caring homes.

Age and marital status

You don’t need to be married to foster a child in North Dakota. Single adults can and do become licensed foster parents. According to North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards, applicants are individuals who have completed, signed, dated, and submitted an application to provide foster care. There’s no requirement that you be part of a couple.

Income and financial stability

You don’t need to be wealthy, but you do need to show that your household is financially stable before a foster child comes into your home. The licensing standards describe financial stability as a component of applicant qualifications. The intent is to confirm that your family’s basic needs are being met independently of the foster care reimbursement you’d receive. That reimbursement is meant to cover the costs of caring for a foster child, not to supplement a household that’s already struggling. Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency for specifics.

Physical and mental health

Fostering a child is demanding, and the licensing process takes your health seriously without being unreasonable about it. North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards include a medical component as part of the licensing requirements. The goal is to confirm that you’re able to meet a child’s day-to-day needs, not to screen out anyone who has ever dealt with a health issue. If you have a history of treatment for social or emotional problems, that history is considered as part of a broader picture of who you are, not as an automatic disqualifier. The earlier version of the licensing policy explicitly addresses gathering information from foster parents or family members who have been treated for any social or emotional problems, which tells you that this is a normal part of the conversation, not a red flag that ends the process.

Household composition

Your household composition matters because everyone living in your home becomes part of the picture. North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards address background check requirements for adults in the foster home, meaning the process looks at the whole household, not just the applicant. If you have children already living with you, that’s fine. If you have other adults in the home, they’ll be part of the background check process.

What the state is actually looking for

Underneath all the specific requirements is a simpler question: can this home keep a child safe and help them thrive? North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards look at personal characteristics of foster families, appropriate behavior toward foster children, discipline practices, and a family’s willingness to work with the child’s case team and support the child’s connections to their birth family, as described in the licensing standards. Those are qualities, not boxes that only certain kinds of people can check.

Background check requirements in North Dakota

Before a single child can be placed in your home, everyone living there needs to pass a background check. This is one of the most substantive parts of the licensing process, and understanding it early will save you time and frustration.

Who has to complete a check

North Dakota Administrative Code 75-03-14-04.1 requires an initial fingerprint-based criminal background check for every applicant and every adult household member living in the dwelling. If you have a partner, a roommate, or an adult child living at home, they’re included. There are no exceptions for someone who “isn’t involved” in the foster care arrangement.

What the check actually involves

The background check policy for adults in foster homes describes it as a fingerprint-based criminal history record investigation that also includes a child abuse and neglect index check. You’ll need to complete:

• A Personal Authorization for Criminal History Record Information Inquiry (SFN 829)
• A Criminal History Record Request (SFN 60688)
• A Fingerprint Identity Verification Form (SFN 836), which you print and bring with you when you get fingerprinted at your local human service center

If any adult in the home has lived outside of North Dakota in the past five years, they’ll also need to complete an out-of-state authorization form for each state they lived in. North Dakota will conduct child abuse and neglect registry checks in every state where you’ve lived during that window.

How long the results are valid

Your initial background check results are good for 180 days from the date they’re completed, as long as your home study stays active. If you hit that 180-day mark without finishing the licensing process, everyone in the home has to start over with new fingerprints. The same applies if your home study is terminated and later reopened, even within that 180-day window.

Annual renewal checks

Once you’re licensed, you don’t repeat the full fingerprint process every year as long as you maintain continuous licensure. But a child abuse and neglect index check is required annually for every adult in the home, as part of the renewal process. The department’s regional office handles this each year.

What can disqualify an applicant

This is where the rules are serious and specific. Under Chapter 75-03-14 of North Dakota Administrative Code, a foster care provider or any adult in the household cannot have been found guilty of, pled guilty to, or pled no contest to a long list of offenses. These include homicide, sexual offenses involving children, kidnapping, human trafficking, assault, robbery at the felony level, arson, and certain drug felonies, among others. Equivalent convictions from other states also count.

For some other offenses, like simple assault, stalking, reckless endangerment, or class A misdemeanor exploitation of an eligible adult, disqualification isn’t automatic. The department may find that an individual has been sufficiently rehabilitated if five years have passed since completing any probation, parole, or imprisonment, with no subsequent charges. The department isn’t required to make that determination, but it can.

One practical note: if you provide false or misleading information about your criminal history, the department can stop processing your application entirely.

If your fingerprints can’t be read after two attempts, the FBI will run a name-based nationwide check instead, and those results will be used in the same way.

What to expect from the home study

You’ve filled out the application. You’ve gathered your documents. Now comes the part that makes most people nervous: someone is going to come to your home, ask you personal questions, and write a report about your family. The home study isn’t a gotcha. It’s a conversation designed to help your licensing worker understand who you are and how you can best serve a child.

Who conducts it and what the process looks like

Your home study is completed by an authorized licensing agent, which in North Dakota means your county social service board or a licensed child-placing agency. According to North Dakota’s administrative code for family foster homes, the process requires home visits and a home study assessment completed by that authorized agent, and the assessment may include interviews with each household member determined to be age appropriate. That last part matters: if you have teenagers at home, expect them to be included in at least part of the conversation.

The worker isn’t coming to catch you off guard. They’re building a picture of your family. That means talking with you about your background, your relationships, how you handle stress, and what you’re hoping to offer a child. It also means walking through your home.

What the worker is looking at

There are two broad categories the home study covers: the physical characteristics of your home and the personal characteristics of your family.

On the physical side, North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards address things like bedroom requirements, fire prevention and safety, safe sleep conditions, proper storage of medications and hazardous materials, and water safety. None of this is designed to require a perfect home. It’s designed to make sure the space is safe for a child.

On the personal side, the worker is looking at qualities like:

• How you handle discipline and conflict
• Your ability to maintain confidentiality about a child’s history
• Your willingness to work as part of a team with caseworkers, courts, and a child’s birth family
• Your openness to supporting a child’s connections to their family and culture
• Your understanding of what concurrent planning means, which is being prepared for reunification while also being prepared for the possibility of permanency

How long does it take

North Dakota’s administrative code sets the maximum duration of a foster care license at two years, but the code doesn’t specify an exact timeline for completing the home study itself. In practice, the timeline depends on your licensing agency, how quickly you complete required training, and how long background checks take to process. Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency. The home study isn’t a single visit. It’s a process, typically involving multiple conversations and at least one walk-through of your home.

Stay responsive: return paperwork quickly, schedule interviews promptly, and ask your worker what’s coming next so you’re not left wondering.

Pre-service training requirements

Before a child can be placed in your home, you’ll need to complete a structured training program. North Dakota doesn’t leave you to figure this out on your own. The state has a formal system in place.

The PRIDE model: what it is and why it matters

North Dakota’s foster care and adoption programs are built around a training framework called PRIDE, which stands for Parents Resource for Information Development and Education. According to North Dakota’s foster care training page, PRIDE is used as both a training tool and a mutual assessment process. That second part matters: while you’re learning whether you’re ready to foster, your agency is also getting to know you and your family. It goes both ways, and that’s by design.

What pre-service training actually looks like

The standard pre-service program is nine sessions totaling 27 hours. It’s an introduction to foster care and adoption, and it’s completed before a child is placed with you. If you’re a relative pursuing licensure and you’ve already had some foster care experience or just need a refresher, there’s also an Abbreviated PRIDE option introduced in April 2024 that runs just 3 hours.

For Native American families or those connected to tribal communities, the foster care training page also lists UNITY Pre-Service Training, offered through the Native American Training Institute (NATI), as an alternative pre-service path.

Fire safety training

Fire safety is its own requirement, separate from PRIDE. Foster care providers must complete initial fire safety training before licensure and then keep it current with ongoing training afterward. The training is developed and hosted through the Children and Family Services Training Center.

Who delivers the training

Health and Human Services has a formal contract with two organizations to deliver foster care training statewide:

• The University of North Dakota Children and Family Services Training Center (CFSTC)
• The Native American Training Institute (NATI)

Trainings are offered throughout the year in various formats. If you have questions about scheduled sessions, what’s required, or whether any training expenses can be reimbursed, you can reach the CFSTC directly at (701) 777-3442 or the CFS Licensing Unit at (701) 328-2322.

What your county or agency may add

The state sets the floor on pre-service training, but individual counties and agencies can build on it. Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency for specifics on whether they expect anything beyond the state-mandated PRIDE curriculum before you can be licensed.

License types and renewal in North Dakota

North Dakota doesn’t use one single “foster care license” that covers every situation. The state uses several different categories, and which one applies to you depends on where you live, your relationship to the child, and what kind of care you’re providing.

Licensed family foster home

The most common path for most prospective foster parents is becoming a licensed family foster home for children. According to H.B. 1091, passed by the 68th Legislative Assembly, a family foster home for children is a private residence where the owner or lessee regularly provides foster care to no more than six children, unless the department approves otherwise. This is a full state license, and it’s what most people mean when they say they’re “licensed foster parents.”

Your license is nontransferable. It’s tied to the specific people and the specific address on the application. If you move, or if your household composition changes significantly, you’ll need to update your license rather than carry it to a new address.

Certified family foster home

A certified family foster home works similarly to a licensed home, but it’s capped at three children rather than six. The same legislation defines this as a private residence where the owner or lessee provides foster care to no more than three children, unless the department approves otherwise. In practice, certification follows a similar process to full licensure, and the distinction matters most when it comes to capacity planning.

Tribal approval

If you’re a Native American family living on or near a recognized Indian reservation in North Dakota, a different category applies. North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards define “approval” as the department’s authorization of a home located on or near a reservation that is not subject to state jurisdiction for licensing purposes. An Affidavit of Compliance with Licensing Requirements, submitted by a tribal representative, stands in for a standard state license. This approval still allows the home to receive Title IV-E federal funding. The affidavit must be subscribed and sworn before the tribal chairperson or another authorized tribal official.

Identified relatives and kinship caregivers

If you’re a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, or another close relative of a child who needs care, North Dakota doesn’t automatically require you to hold a full foster care license. State law exempts identified relatives and kinship relatives from the mandatory licensure requirement, as long as the care doesn’t extend beyond thirty days in a calendar year without a license. That said, individuals providing care as identified relatives are still required to submit to a criminal history record investigation. If you want to care for a child longer term and receive foster care payments, you’ll typically need to pursue licensure or certification through the standard process.

What “provisional” means

Provisional licensing exists as a formal category in North Dakota’s administrative rules. North Dakota’s administrative code allows the department to issue a provisional license when an applicant hasn’t yet been able to comply with all applicable standards and rules. It’s a conditional approval that gets you started while you work toward full compliance. It’s not a permanent status, and it comes with specific conditions attached.

How annual renewal works

Your license doesn’t last indefinitely. North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards include an annual licensing requirement, which means you’ll go through a renewal process each year to stay active. That process involves keeping your paperwork current, maintaining your training hours, and remaining in good standing with your licensing agency. The application to provide family foster care is treated as an annual process, not a one-time filing.

The renewal cycle is also a checkpoint. If your household has changed, if someone new has moved in, or if there have been any incidents, those things get reviewed at renewal.

Requirements vary by county. Check with your agency for specifics on renewal timelines and what documentation your licensing worker will need from you each year.

Staying licensed: what’s required after approval

Getting licensed isn’t a finish line. It’s the beginning of an ongoing relationship with your licensing agency, and there are real, recurring responsibilities that come with it.

Annual reevaluation and home review

Your foster care license isn’t permanent. According to North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards, there’s an annual licensing requirement that all foster families must meet to keep their license active. That means your licensing worker will come back to your home each year, review whether you still meet all the standards, and renew your license only if everything checks out.

Continuing education

You’ll be expected to keep building your skills as a foster parent, not just complete training once and move on. North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards include ongoing training as part of what it means to stay licensed. The specifics of how many hours are required and what topics must be covered can vary depending on the agency working with you. Requirements vary by county, so check with your agency for specifics.

Reporting obligations

When something significant happens in your home or with a child in your care, you’re required to report it. North Dakota’s administrative code on licensed child-placing agencies addresses incident and sentinel event reporting as a standard obligation, and that same expectation flows through to foster families. If a child is injured, if there’s an allegation of abuse or neglect, or if another serious event occurs, report promptly to your licensing agency and follow their guidance from there.

Child abuse and neglect reporting isn’t optional and isn’t discretionary. If you have reason to suspect a child in your care, or any child, has been abused or neglected, you report it. That’s true whether or not you’re certain. Foster parents are mandated reporters.

Household changes you must disclose

Your license is tied to your specific household at a specific address. If something meaningful changes, your licensing agency needs to know. Changes that typically require notification include:

• Anyone new moving into your home, including a partner, a family member, or a roommate
• A household member turning 14, which triggers background check requirements
• A change of address or a move to a new home
• A significant change in your financial situation
• Any arrest or criminal charge involving a household member

North Dakota’s foster care licensing standards make clear that the information you provided during your initial application needs to stay current. A change you don’t disclose can put your license at risk, even if the change itself wouldn’t have been disqualifying had you reported it on time.