If you've fostered...

nursecramer

H and I have discussed becoming foster parents for the past five or so years. We are starting to pursue this more seriously and I'm planning to an orientation/q&a session with the local family services agency. However, we received a phone call last week that the highly recommended day care center just 5 minutes from my work has an opening for our 2 yr old. We were on the waiting list for more than a year. We will most likely move him from his current center to this one. I'm wondering whether this means we'll have to put our plans to foster on hold again. Obviously, it would be really hard to get a position for another child in this center on short notice. How do you work child care arrangements for two working foster parents?

JennaNAaron

We foster through the county.  Before we started fostering we toured several daycares in our area and found a few that we liked.  We did this because we wanted to make sure we had a backup in case our first choice couldn't take them.  If you had to I guess you could have them in two different places, but I can tell you from experience that it's a pickup/drop off nightmare.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

mysticl

Do not pass up a daycare spot for your child just because you might foster in the future.  I used to work in foster care, you have no idea when you will get a placement or if that child will need daycare.  At the agency I worked at a couple of our parents made extra money by providing daycare for the kids of some of our other parents.  Since they were already licensed as foster parents by us there were no issues with the kids spending the day there.  

nursecramer

Yes, we weren't going to turn down this position solely for the what-if of fostering in the future. It's nice to hear from mysticl and fredalina that there are some other options, because Jenna's right, I do not want to be doing two pick-ups/drop-offs.  ::shudder::

Thanks for your responses!