Sometimes the danger of abuse or neglect is so great that children must be removed from their homes. The foster care system provides a safe, hopefully temporary, environment for these displaced young victims.

Receiving Homes are ready, 24 hours per day, to act as temporary shelters for children. Stays in these homes are not to exceed 30 days until suitable relatives can be located, or the children are matched with foster families.

Regular Foster Care Homes are the backbone of the foster care system. These are homes where children are integrated, as naturally as possible, into family living situations. The trained foster parents must embrace and nurture the children, assist with the family's reunifications, and be selflessly ready to terminate the relationship as soon as the family is reunited.

Specialized Foster Care Homes are county-licensed Level I, II, III, or IV foster homes, Foster Family Agency homes, Valley Mountain Regional Center vendored homes or group homes for children who have physical or emotional needs that required specialized settings. Specialized foster care homes are compensated according to the level of care children required. Examples of children who might require specialized care are: newborns critically affected by the mother's drug use, severely emotionally disturbed children, physically impaired or developmentally delayed children.