How Foster Circle works

A foster family posts a need — a meal, a mowed lawn, a ride to a visit, a night of respite. Volunteers nearby see it and offer to help. The family picks one. Only then do the two of them get each other's contact information. Afterward the volunteer logs their hours and the family leaves a rating.

That's it. Foster Circle pairs need with action. It doesn't vet anyone, handle money, or stand in for a caseworker.

• Children are never named or pictured. Not in posts, not in profiles, not anywhere. Families describe the need, not the child.
• Families appear as a first name and a city. Street addresses and phone numbers are hidden until the family confirms a specific volunteer.
• Volunteers appear as a first name, city, tier, and track record — ratings and hours from previous help.
• For rides, babysitting, and overnight care, posts show only the dates — exact times are shared once the family connects with a helper.

Volunteers choose a tier when they sign up. Tiers are a filter, not a credential. They keep a family's overnight respite request from being buried in offers from people who can't legally provide it — nothing more.

• Tier 1 — everyday help: meals, yard work, deliveries, errands, gift cards. No background check. The volunteer never has unsupervised contact with a child.
• Tier 2 — background-checked: rides to appointments and visitation, short-term babysitting, court companion. Volunteers select this only if they've cleared a background check.
• Tier 3 — licensed respite: overnight care, for approved respite providers only.

Foster Circle does not verify tiers. The family does — with the people whose job that is.

The foster family and their caseworker. That isn't a gap in our design; it's how Tennessee already works. The state's Reasonable and Prudent Parent protocol puts short-term babysitting (under 24 hours) in the foster parent's hands, with one test: would you leave your own child with this person? Overnight respite follows the state's respite care protocol — providers come from the family's own circle or other approved foster parents, and the caseworker is in the loop.

So before a family can accept a Tier 2 or Tier 3 offer, Foster Circle asks them to confirm one thing: I've checked with my caseworker that this helper is approved for this kind of care. We record that they said so. We don't check it ourselves, because we're not the ones who can.

Foster Circle never handles payments. Most help here is free — a casserole, an hour with a mower. When money is involved, like paid respite, the two parties settle it directly. Volunteers and families can optionally list a Venmo or Cash App handle, shown only after a match is confirmed. Never pay anyone to claim a need or to “hold a spot.”

Volunteer coordinators verify that each family account belongs to a real foster family before it can post, and they can suspend any account instantly. Every coordinator action is logged. See About for who's behind it.

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. To report suspected abuse or neglect in Tennessee, call the DCS Child Abuse Hotline at 877-237-0004 — everyone in Tennessee is a mandated reporter. For concerns about a Foster Circle account or post, report it to a coordinator.