Institute for Human Resources & Services, Inc.
The IHRS is licensed according to the standards set by the Office of Children & Youth and the Office of Developmental Programs of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.
The IHRS also offers emergency placement and emergency respite services and operates a licensed foster care/adoption and family services agency that services multiple counties throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.
We are a private, non-profit tax-exempt corporation organized in 1975 under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Our charter promotes the psychological, social, and educational well-being of the children and adults the agency serves.
Services and information
- Traditional Foster Care
- Emergency Foster Care
- Respite Foster Care
- Adoption
Requirements to become a foster parent
You must meet minimum requirements to provide foster care in Pennsylvania. Foster parents for children in need must:
- Be a minimum of 21 years old
- Pass a criminal background check with fingerprinting
- Have time and energy to devote to fostering
- Live in a safe and healthy environment
- Prove good health through a medical examination/physical
- Maintain financial stability
- Clear all home safety requirements
- Complete required pre-service training hours
- Finish the Home Inspection
After fulfilling all requirements during the approval process, licensed foster parents can welcome a foster child into their home. To maintain a valid license, foster parents must also participate in ongoing training each year.
All adults who are living in homes with foster children in Pennsylvania must pass a required criminal background check and fingerprinting. This includes adult children who are family members living at home.
There are other, more detailed requirements for foster homes, such as having a flushing toilet and an operable phone. Prospective foster parents will learn more details during foster parent orientation.
Once you've decided to foster, you can contact a public or private foster agency or the Pennsylvania State Resource Family Association. Foster agencies screen and train prospective foster families and ensure applicants are good candidates for foster care.
Ratings and Reviews
Average user rating
2.7 / 55 | |
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Feb 03, 2023
This company is HORRIBLE!!!!! Work there for quick cash if you’re ever in need of a quick hustle but please don’t waste your time with the company if you’re hoping to move up. There’s no growth here. You get written up for mourning a lost of a family member, not properly getting trained at the job, you even get written up for having a month off of surgery trust me I know it has happened to me! My program specialist stated it’s a business well you need employees to help run a business!!! Shani is a horrible program specialist to come across. Giving me attitude saying I neglected clients when I never even started a shift there. The best part is that she even escorted me out of her office after I told her I didn’t appreciate her tone and her attitude explaining her policies that are clearly made up as they go. She didn’t not talk to me in there like I was an employee she clearly was disrespectful and kept cutting me off and kicked me out of her office. I never felt so disrespected in my life. If you work here don’t expect sympathy they don’t care. You’re just another body in that office. They even put you in houses without even telling you they’re in quarantine knowing you have a family at home. They even do investigations at that institute that clearly doesn’t make sense you end up doing there investigations for them. It’s so unorganized and unprofessional I strongly advise not to work here. This place clearly has 2.7 stars for a reason. And please don’t believe these bogus reviews giving this company 5 star rating it’s all a lie these are people who work in the office that are writing these reviews they don’t work with the clients. There are better places out there then this place it’s not worth it trust me on that.
Nov 26, 2022
This company is not very nice to their employees, they will suspend you with out pay , for months and they will lie on you to make them look good, some of the supervisor are very unprofessional a lot of miss communications between you and supervisor, you bend over backwards for them, but not for you? I basically was set up to be a failure, from my experience the worst company I ever worked for!
Feb 24, 2022
The clients are beautiful and diverse. The pay was okay. Some of the staff should be retrained or taken out of there current positions. It was convenient for myself close to home. Personally I would not recommend any application.
Jan 13, 2020
The clients are amazing. However the company is so disorganized, unprofessional, and lacking in so many departments. It’s like being back in high school with the he said she said. I enjoyed my time working there.
Aug 24, 2019
Good Pay, Caring staff but Hectic Schedule!