FOSTERING
What is Fostering?
Foster care is a system through which a child is temporarily placed in an alternative home. The Children’s Aid Society may intervene to provide a safe living space for the child in cases of maltreatment (abuse or neglect). The child may be placed in foster care with relatives, strangers, or in a group facility.
There are five categories of child maltreatment recognized in Canada:
- physical abuse
- sexual abuse
- neglect
- emotional harm
- exposure to family violence
Fostering is the act by which foster parents (or foster families) provide a temporary home to a child or children who been maltreated. Some children may need to be in foster care for just a few days or a week. Others may need to live with a foster family for several months or, in some circumstances, several years. The Children’s Aid Society of Toronto indicates that children remain in foster care from 6 – 12 months on average.
You can learn more by visiting these websites:
Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (Toronto CAS Fostering) or
Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS Fostering)
What does Islam Say About Fostering
The principles and teachings of the Islamic faith have continued to encourage taking care of vulnerable children.
The Quran and Sunnah put a special emphasis on the virtues of taking care of underprivileged children who have been abandoned or orphaned.
The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “I and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for him, will be in paradise like this (placing his index and middle finger together)” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 6005).
The Prophet ( صلى الله عليه وسلم) has also said “he who joins an orphan among Muslims in his food and drink until that he can provide for himself; verily he is assured to enter Paradise.” [Al-Albani said: authentic due to its multiplicity of ways] (Suleiman, 2017).
To learn more, click on the link to read our Literature Review:
Foster Care & Islam – Stakeholders, Children & Faith
How MCASS fits in
YOU CAN CHANGE THE LIFE OF A CHILD!
Connect with us to learn more about becoming a foster parent and starting the process.
The Child, Youth and Family Services Act states that the religious and cultural identity of the child should be taken into consideration when selecting a temporary home.
At the present time, this is not usually feasible. There are only a very few Muslim foster parents across the Greater Toronto Area. There are not nearly enough Muslim foster parents for the number Muslim children taken into care by the Society based upon our anecdotal information.
We collaborate closely with the Society to educate our diverse communities about foster care and fostering and the urgent need to come to the aid of Muslim children who are in care due to maltreatment. We support parents who are considering fostering to initiate and complete the application process.
