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Adoption
Calling foster and future foster mommies!
So my DH and I decided we want to go the foster care route first. How did you prepare your house for foster care? Did you get rooms all ready with bedding, etc? Did you keep things like toiletries on the ready in case you have short notice on a foster child?
What is generally covered for foster care? Day care? clothes?
How many foster children do you generally have your house open for?
How long did you wait after getting all approved before getting your first placement?
TIA 
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Re: Calling foster and future foster mommies!
We have 2 more classes left and then our profile to complete before we start taking kids.
They want us to prepare the house for the ages we want to take. For us that is 0-8 years. We want to get bunk beds and then the basic baby gear. We think we will just start off with a PNP and carseat for an infant, because they said they don't get many. If we happen to get one, they give us a day or two to get the crib, etc.
I have some basic toiletries for kids because my brothers and sister are younger and come over a bit.
I know we get a daily amount per child for all of their needs. The state will pay for daycare if we both work/go to school full time (I am in school).
They will tell us how many kids we can have when we do our homestudy. I don't think we can have more than 3 since we have a smaller house and cars. I don't think I could handle more than 3 for a long period of time, either.
We haven't gotten approved yet, but I hope its not a long wait.
Good luck!
Bold isn't working for me, so bear with me!
Two Mommies Healing Hearts
We've been licensed for almost two years now.
Our CW came and did an initial walk thru towards the beginning of our process and let us know before she came that she didn't expect our house to be ready then, but that she would give us a list of things (fire extinguisher, knives up, meds locked up, etc.) and that is what she did....we weren't expected to have anything done before her first visit. We were accepting ages 0-6 so we needed a crib/toddler bed and a regular bed---basically the main think you need for the kiddos is the place to sleep. Because our ages were so open we didn't get anything else besides furniture and bedding and decorations at first--we decorated the room in a gender age neutral theme (under the sea). We didn't keep any toiletries again, b/c we didn't know what age to have them for and figured we could get basics at the 24 hour grocery store.
From everything I've read what the subsidy pays for varies by state, but ours in MD gives a monthly amount for all expenses (but we are told we should be spending a certain amount on clothes). Our caseworker made it clear that it is also to pay for indirect costs such as electric, water, etc. We also have daycare paid for as well as mileage to visits and other mandatory places we need to take the kids. Our children who meet the age requirement (under 5) are also eligible for WIC. All in all I think our state is very generous and I am able to get whatever FD needs and fun stuff too with the subsidy. Others who children have more needs may disagree.
We are licensed for 2 children b/c that is how many beds we have--we originally said we'd take one, but would consider a sibling set.
We were officially approved in December 08 and got our first call in Feb 09, but she ended up going to a relative instead. In May 09 we turned down a placement of a sibling group and got the call for our DD (who we are adopting in two weeks!) in June 09 (ironically she is the call we received that didn't work out in Feb--her relative placement didn't work out--so we think it was just meant to be).
How did you prepare your house for foster care? -- I called around and got information from the different foster options in our area- (there are 3 here- county, Path(Treatment), and specifically for Unaccompinaned Minnors). We decided who we wanted to work with and then started the process with them. As our worker was getting ready to submit our home study she told us that she would recommend we go with 10-14 yr olds... that gave us an age range. As we were doing the home study we found out what things (like fire exstingushers on every level- smoke alarms, locking meds up) we needed to do and did those at that point.
Did you get rooms all ready with bedding, etc?-- We had already been given bunk beds from a friend that heard we were going to do foster care and wanted to give them to us. We got the matterases, sheets and blankets- got all these things from family or the thrift store- gender nutural. then we just got a laundry basket and an alarm clock.
Did you keep things like toiletries on the ready in case you have short notice on a foster child? -- Because we do PATH fc we don't get short notice placements- we get to review the childs file and meet them a couple times before they are placed with us. We also aren't the childs first placement after being removed from the home, so they come with more than just the clothes on their back. (in fact both of the foster placements we've had, had almost a whole van load of stuff.)
What is generally covered for foster care? Day care? clothes?-- We get $300 to be spent in the first 6months of placement for clothing. if there is a big growth spurt in a short amount of time (like your going to have to replace EVERYTHING) you can petition to get another allowence. Daycare is covered 100%- there is a form the daycare fills out and submits to PATH- its nice when the daycare is willing to wait to get paid from PATH rather than us having to pay and wait to be reimburst. We get a daily rate of pay per child that is in our house. That is expected to cover all day to day expenses for the child- your suppose to spend at least $50 a month on the child directly- they don't ask for proof or anything just a guide line- Which isn't hard to do.
There is also another fund to pay for activities-lessons, yr books, prom, senior photos ect- which the child gets every year.
How many foster children do you generally have your house open for?-- in the state of ND PATH homes can be liscensed for 2 kids. if there is a sibling set you can sometimes get a varience specific for that/those kid(s). This ONLY counts the children placed in your home as foster children that you are getting paid to have. you can have as many children in your house as you want- as long as you have beds specifically for the fc that meet the requirements (6 ft away from another bed) and can care for them all.
When we got our first placement we waited about 2 months before we started talking about getting another placement- it was about another month before our 2nd placement moved in.
How long did you wait after getting all approved before getting your first placement? --we got our license in January 2009 did a few respit placements for the next month. Went to meet our fs Valentines weekend- he moved in a month later.
Things vary soo much state to state and county to county. I'd say decide which route you want to (county, TFC ect) and then get their info packet.
Also if your looking for more info check out Tim and Wendy at https://fosterpodcast.com/ Good luck- as T&W say Fostering is the most heart wrenching,frusterating, all consuming thing you'll ever do- (my own words)BUT it is also the most rewarding thing I've ever done!
I agree with most of the other ladies here. It completely depends on your agency (or state), what ages of the children and your individual homestudy.
We just completed the PRIDE classes in our state, and we are waiting for our homestudy inspection. We had to prepare our home in advance, including setting up the crib and changing station, childproofing the home and storing medications and chemicals. Nothing too durastic, although the list adds up when you look around and realize what you need to do. How many children you choose is up to you, although your state will impose a limit; usually between 4-6 at a time. It also depends on how much room (ie beds/cribs) you have available, as each child will need their own one. In washington, the state pays for daycare and we receive a small clothing stipend. After the intial stipend, clothing, food and activites are on us. Let me know if you have other questions, I'd love to help!
xoxoxox