How to Find Past Foster Parents

A foster care situation is one in which children do not live with their birth parents and reside temporarily with another family until they return to their birth parents or find an adoptive family. Former foster children might want to find past foster parents to help them discover more information about their past or to re-connect as adults with people who had a profound impact on their formative years. By using state agency information, various public record search databases and reunion registries, former foster children can often locate long-lost foster parents.

Instructions

    • 1

      Gather any information you have on your previous foster family, such as their names, location and former address. Look through former school and medical records or contact your previous school/doctor's office for this information. If you remain in contact with your birth parents, they might also have information on your former foster parents.

    • 2

      Contact the agency that placed you with the foster family to ask for information. Depending on your state's privacy laws, they may be able to give you the name and address of your foster family. These laws vary from state to state; a good place to start searching for state agency contact information is through the National Foster Care & Adoption Directory Search, which offers resources by state. (See Resources for link.)

    • 3

      Run their names through an online search database such as Zabasearch.com or PeopleSearchNow.com. These databases search a variety of online public records information to help you find individuals. While they often offer free basic information, you will generally need to pay for more detailed information such as birth dates and addresses.

    • 4

      Join a support group for former foster care children such as the Fostered Adult Children Together support group or the Foster Care Alumni Association of America. (See Resources for link.) These organizations can help support you in your search and offer new ideas and resources.

    • 5

      Place your name on a registry of adopted/foster children looking for family members, such as the International Soundex Reunion Registry (ISRR). The ISRR enables families looking for each other to locate each other's pertinent details.

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