How this list works
This is step 4 of the six steps — the paperwork that runs alongside your training. Every item below comes from Georgia's published approval process; where an item applies to every adult in your home, not just you, we've flagged it, because that's the detail that most often stalls a file.
The organizing idea is simple: some of this is already in a drawer at your house, and some of it involves a government or medical office's calendar. Do the drawer items whenever. Start the calendar items now — they're the ones that decide whether your approval takes three months or six.
These documents all feed one place: the family evaluation (home study). If you want to know what happens to them after you hand them over, read what the home study actually asks.
Haven't decided whether you're eligible yet?
Don't gather a single document until you've read "Can I foster if I…?" — most of the reasons people count themselves out aren't real, and the ones that are real deserve a phone call, not a guess.
Forms you get at the information session
You don't hunt these down — they're given to you. Your only job is to fill them out completely and hand them back fast, because the evaluation can't start without them.
-
Prospective Caregiver Application
Handed out at your information session; it must be completed and returned before the family evaluation process can begin. Jul 2, 2026
-
Live Scan Application Form Every adult in the home
Also handed out at the information session and required back before the evaluation starts — this is the form that kicks off fingerprint background checks, which cover every adult in your household. Jul 2, 2026
Gather from your files tonight
The published requirements name what these documents must prove, not the exact papers that prove it — your agency or county tells you which documents they'll accept. Pull the obvious candidates into a folder now and you'll be ready for whatever they name.
-
Proof of current residence
Requested by your agency or county during the evaluation phase. Georgia requires prospective caregivers to "provide proof of current residence" — renters qualify the same as owners. Jul 2, 2026
-
Proof of financial stability
Requested alongside proof of residence. The bar is honest, not high: income that covers your own household without the per diem — see the eligibility FAQ. Jul 2, 2026
Request-and-wait items
Each of these depends on an appointment, a lab, or a government office. None is difficult — but every one of them has a processing time you don't control.
-
Fingerprint criminal records check Every adult in the home
Run from your Live Scan submission during the paperwork-and-screenings phase. Not just applicants — every adult living in your home is checked. Jul 2, 2026
-
Child protective services screening
Georgia requires "both child protective screenings and criminal records checks" as part of approval; it runs during the same screening phase as the fingerprints. Jul 2, 2026
-
Out-of-state child abuse & neglect registry check Adults 18+, under 5 yrs in GA
If you — or any other adult household member over 18 — haven't lived in Georgia for at least 5 years, each prior state's registry must screen you. Each state answers on its own schedule. Jul 2, 2026
-
Medical exam
A required "must complete a medical exam" item during the evaluation phase — which means getting on your doctor's calendar, so book it as soon as your agency confirms what the exam form needs. Jul 2, 2026
-
Drug screen Primary & secondary parent
Part of the screenings that run alongside the home study, for the primary and secondary parent — a lab visit, so it belongs on the same errand list as the medical exam. Jul 2, 2026
Start the government-clock items this week
Two items above run on state processing time you cannot speed up once submitted: the fingerprint checks and, if anyone in your home is newer to Georgia, the out-of-state registry checks. Veterans consistently say the same thing — and the six steps says it too: the whole process "moves fastest when you start the fingerprints early." Return the Live Scan form the week you get it, and tell your agency about prior states at the info session, not during the home study. Checked July 2, 2026; your agency can tell you current turnaround times.
What agencies sometimes add
Commonly requested — but not in the published list
Families frequently report being asked for items beyond the published requirements: pet vaccination records, personal references, marriage or divorce paperwork, and birth certificates are the usual suspects. None of these appears in the official list we verified above, and requirements differ between DFCS and Georgia's private agencies — so we won't publish them as required. Ask your agency for their complete document list at the information session, and add their extras to the blank lines below.
-
Agency addition #1
Whatever your agency names that isn't listed above — write it here.
-
Agency addition #2
Who asked for it, and when it's due.
Print it, make a folder
Approval paperwork arrives in dribbles over weeks, and the family that keeps one folder — this checklist stapled to the front — is the family whose evaluator never has to ask twice.
The print version strips the site down to just the checklist — boxes to tick, per-adult flags included, about one page for the fridge or the folder.
Sources & verification
- fostergeorgia.com — Steps to Approval: Prospective Caregiver Application and Live Scan Application Form handed out at the information session; both must be completed and returned before the family evaluationfostergeorgia.com Jul 2, 2026
- fostergeorgia.com — General Information: medical exam; child protective screenings and criminal records checks; out-of-state registry screening for adults 18+ with under 5 years' Georgia residency; proof of current residence and financial stabilityfostergeorgia.com Jul 2, 2026
- Foster411 — the home study guide documents the same sources' screening details (fingerprints for every adult in the home; drug screen for primary and secondary parent)guide-home-study.html Jul 2, 2026
Requirements can change between our verification dates, and private agencies may layer their own list on top of the state's. If today is well past the dates above, confirm the current list with your agency before relying on this page.