no real experience with kids?

Jen717

I've been researching and contemplating fostering (possibly foster/adopt) for a while now, and I have a question for those of you who have been through the approval process. DH and I have no real experience with children. How difficult would it be to get approved for foster care if you have no references that can attest to your ability to care for children?

ksmeg78

What do you mean by "real experience"? Like you're not a teacher or more like you've only seen kids on tv? I think it's okay if you aren't the type of person who teaches sunday school in their free time or something. I'm not that kind of person and it doesn't mean I don't want to parent. It just means that large groups of other people's kids aren't my thing. But if you've never babysat and never spent time with anyone who has kids (like family member or friends), then I would suggest that. We had to have five references and at least three of them were supposed to talk about whether they thought we would be good parents and talk about our interaction with children. It doesn't have to be actually caring for children as in teaching or babysitting, but if you never interact with children at all, I think that might be tough. It could be something as simple as "They get along very well with my own children and I wouldn't hesitate to leave my child in their care" even if you don't actually ever babysit for your reference. You can also probably find out what they ask the reference letter to address and whether it will be an issue.

carriea99

We used babysitting our nieces and nephews as our "experience".

2bWednDec

We had to provide 5 references each but they did not indicate they'd ask about our interaction with kid...they just said they'd ask a few questions.  In the end, they never called any of our references at all. 

I had never had any experience with newborns and knew very little until we got the call to pick up my newborn girl!  

Jen717

Thanks, ladies! I appreciate the feedback.