Foster family placement isn't conceived as a long-term placement, but as a process of controlled intervention over a variable period of time.      This is why foster parents have to be able to establish a relationship as quickly as possible with the child they take care of. This relationship should also help the child to learn his own history and identity. Foster parents should also offer the child a permanent, affectionate relationship suited to his or her age. That is why

the main motivation of foster families should be to offer a stable environment for a child who is in urgent need of it.
     In order to help and teach the foster parents to be able to meet the complex needs of the child in care and his need of concrete relationships,

professional training, continuous instruction and permanent supervision are of essential importance.      The program of training the professional foster parents developed by the "Joseph" Foundation strives to meet this need.      The "Joseph" Foundation's specialists (social worker and psychologists) offer to those interested in becoming foster parents all the necessary information for understanding, taking care of and protecting children in difficulty within the framework of 60 hours of courses.

     The 60 hours of courses contain information about child protection laws, the private organizations in this field of activity, reform in the system of

child protection, the personality of the child and its development, his health, the profession of foster carer and problems which can appear during the placement.      Thus, the foster parents learn to accept the children as they are: with their past, present and future, with both their qualities and problems. They are taught how to strengthen the child's sense of identity, and how to make him regain self-respect and self-confidence, encouraging, at the same time, the physical, psycho-social, intellectual and spiritual development of the

child in their care.
     At the same time, foster parents learn to respect the biological family and the relatives of the child they took into their care and to co-operate with them - of course, if this is in the best interest of the child - as well to offer a balanced family atmosphere, proper to the development of child's abilities and gifts.
     The "Joseph" Foundation has already organized three training courses for foster carers which have been attended by 61people (53 live in villages near Iasi and the other 8 live in the city). All these are foster parents now, having 1 or more children into their care.