Foster care is a temporary placement outside your home. A foster care placement may be in the home of a relative or a friend or in the home of a family you do not know. It may also be in a group setting with other youth. Foster care placements are supervised by a foster care agency.

You might be in foster care because your family is going through some tough times that make it unsafe for you to stay with them. The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) got involved because they found out you were being hurt or not properly cared for, and they went to family court to make sure you could be in a safe place.

Yes. It’s important to know that your voice matters. The first choice is always to see if you can stay with relatives or friends you know. The people working on your case, like the ACS caseworker, your foster care planner, or your judge, will do their best to find a home where you feel safe and comfortable.

The Administration for Children’s Services staff must work to keep you and your brothers and sisters together unless there’s an important reason not to. If you’re a parenting teen, you shoud be placed in a foster home or group residence with your child.

Children’s Services should try to place you in your own neighborhood so that you can continue to attend your school and stay in touch with your friends. Even if you move to a different neighborhood, you may be able to continue in your school.

You should be able to visit with your parents or guardians (and your brothers and sisters if they aren’t living with you) within three days of going into foster care. These visits should happen at least once a week, usually at the ACS or foster care agency office. Sometimes, an adult will be there to supervise the visit, but other times, it might be just you and your family. As things get better and there are no safety concerns, you might be allowed to visit with your parent or guardian outside of the agency.

While you are in foster care, ACS must pay for your clothing. They may also pay extra for special clothing, like for graduation or prom. Although this money may be given to your foster parent, you should be responsible for buying the clothing. You are also entitled to an “age-appropriate” allowance, but there is no rule about how much it must be. If you leave care, you won’t get the clothing stipend or any other allowance.

Yes. When Children’s Services filed the case in Family Court, the judge assigned a lawyer to represent you. Your lawyer’s job is to get to know you and speak for you in court. Your lawyer will make sure that the judge knows what you want and will try to make that happen. Your lawyer can also answer questions and help you with concerns that come up in foster care, school, or elsewhere.

You have a right to talk with your lawyer in private and to call your lawyer whenever you need to. In New York City, your lawyer probably works with the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice or Lawyers for Children. If you don’t have your lawyer’s name and telephone number, you can ask your foster care caseworker for it.

Your lawyer will be in court. The worker from Children’s Services will be there with a lawyer, and so will your parents and their lawyers. Sometimes youth are in court, sometimes they aren’t. It’s up to the judge. If you are interested in coming to court, you should talk about this with your lawyer.

Children’s Services will present the information and facts that led them to place you in foster care. Your parents will have a chance to present their side of the story. And, your lawyer will make sure that the judge hears what you have to say. Remember, you have a right to ask the judge to send you home. After listening to everyone, the judge will decide whether you can go home.

If the judge decides that you can’t return home now, it is possible that at a future court date, the judge may decide things have changed and it is safe for you to return to live with your family.

• Your lawyer or social worker from the lawyer’s office
• Your foster care caseworker
• Your therapist

• New York State Bill of Rights for Children and Youth in Foster Care

The information in this document has been prepared by The Legal Aid Society for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon any information without retaining professional legal counsel.