Respite Care - Must Know Information?

msditz00

I remember reading on here that someone got their first placements and weren't even told the children's last name.  They included in that post what they found out afterward about the information they should ALWAYS be given with each placement.

We are eventually hoping to adopt siblings, but until we are matched will be doing respite care. Just trying to compile a list of questions to ask when the kids are being dropped off.

We have been told to expect our license as soon as next week, so excited!

Foster1Mom

I am sure each state/county is different but with both of our placements I know full child's information, SSN, parent's names, address. They come with what they call the "red folder" and it has all the information and eventually court papers.

I have never done respite but I would ask about schedules, any tips/tricks to get them to sleep. Favorites, dislikes, etc. 

msditz00

Thanks, Foster1Mom. 

 I am feeling very overwhelmed right now - we have been in this process for 1.5 years, and just this last month were asked to consider respite care.  But they never really went in depth about what we should know/expect with the placements.  I feel like DCF dragged their feet for so long in the beginning that we were just thrown through the rest of the process quickly to shut us up.

JennaNAaron

I would think with respite care you would get more info since they are coming from another foster family.  As far as an actual placement, we didn't know the kids last names, but we asked first names, how old, why they were in care, if they had been in care before, allergies, medical problems, how long they guesstimated they might be in care.  When LO #1 came he had the clothes on his back (which were dirty), no shoes, the SW didn't "think" he had any allergies.  Also he was 14 months old and I bought size 3 diapers when in actuality he was in 24 month clothes and size 5 diapers   Sizes might be a good question to ask next time!

elissaann26

That was me!  Even though the two children we watched for the weekend came from foster parents we got pretty much close to no information.  And we did find out later that that was a REALLY bad thing!  We didn't have medicaid cards, or contact info, or anything that we should have had. 

Here is the thread where I gave my advice to jmoka7 when she had her first respite care placement.

I would strongly suggest having the following information.

1-  Full Name -including the spelling

2-  Date of Birth- not just age

3-  Medicaid cards

4-  Contact info for foster parents

5-  Contact info for social workers including who to contact on off-hours

6-  Pertinent details of the case:  Are there security concerns?  Was sexual abuse part of the case? If so, then you want to limit the amount of time you are alone with the child(ren).  And so on.

7-  Bedtime routine, including bathing routine. 

8-  Medications- All of the details.   We were just handed two medications.  We weren't sure the dosage for one (it wasn't on the bottle) and had to ask the 3 year-old who each medicationw as for.  This was BAD!

9-  Pickup time and location.  Seems obvious, but we were in the dark on this one too!

If the people dropping the kids off want to drop and run, don't let them do that!  We were in shock at how quickly the drop off happened that we weren't forceful enough to get all of the information we REALLY needed.

msditz00

elissaann26:

That was me!  Even though the two children we watched for the weekend came from foster parents we got pretty much close to no information.  And we did find out later that that was a REALLY bad thing!  We didn't have medicaid cards, or contact info, or anything that we should have had. 

Here is the thread where I gave my advice to jmoka7 when she had her first respite care placement.

I would strongly suggest having the following information.

1-  Full Name -including the spelling

2-  Date of Birth- not just age

3-  Medicaid cards

4-  Contact info for foster parents

5-  Contact info for social workers including who to contact on off-hours

6-  Pertinent details of the case:  Are there security concerns?  Was sexual abuse part of the case? If so, then you want to limit the amount of time you are alone with the child(ren).  And so on.

7-  Bedtime routine, including bathing routine. 

8-  Medications- All of the details.   We were just handed two medications.  We weren't sure the dosage for one (it wasn't on the bottle) and had to ask the 3 year-old who each medicationw as for.  This was BAD!

9-  Pickup time and location.  Seems obvious, but we were in the dark on this one too!

If the people dropping the kids off want to drop and run, don't let them do that!  We were in shock at how quickly the drop off happened that we weren't forceful enough to get all of the information we REALLY needed.

THANK YOU!  That's the thread I was looking for!

elissaann26

I don't want to paint respite care out to be a horrible thing.  We LOVED doing it because it really gave us a feel for foster care.  And I don't think we would have been so comfortable taking 2 children if we had not done respite care.  But like anything, there were a lot of unexpected things that created learning moments.

If you have ANY questions, feel free to ask!  I definitely don't think there is enough respite care prep given to foster parents who are willing to provide respite care!

msditz00

elissaann26:

I don't want to paint respite care out to be a horrible thing.  We LOVED doing it because it really gave us a feel for foster care.  And I don't think we would have been so comfortable taking 2 children if we had not done respite care.  But like anything, there were a lot of unexpected things that created learning moments.

If you have ANY questions, feel free to ask!  I definitely don't think there is enough respite care prep given to foster parents who are willing to provide respite care!

The extent to which it was covered in PRIDE class was minimal at best.  I feel so unprepared, but still excited.

Thanks for being so supportive!