Maryland Foster Parenting Support Forum

Hello.. we are also foster parents and we live in Anne Arundel county - we do treatment fostercare and have had only 2 placements (one was with us for 4 months the other for 16 months).. We were going to adopt the one that was with us for 16 months and then she left due to some jealousy of the new baby we just adopted.. We have continued to be a part of her life and they are now asking us if we would again be a resource for her. We have also been asked to condier taking in a 12 y/o boy who really needs a dad in his life and they are having a hard time finding a fosterhome with a a 2 parent set up. We are so torn and very confused.. we want to help him.. but also don;t feel like we are able to give him 100% since we still need to see what we can do for "B".. we would love to have her back.. but also are not sure she can get over her jealousy issues.. UUGGHH any thoughts? Mandy

Hi, I'm Sandee, my husband and I are licensed foster/adopt in Prince George's County, MD. We became licensed last February and we have had one placement, our son, who's permanency plan switched to adoption in September and we hope to adopt. It's a transracial placement but we're hoping that won't cause any difficulty. We want to adopt more, but we only have 2 bedrooms upstairs so we're limited in what we can do so we're also looking to move within the county to a house with more bedrooms upstairs.

Welcome Sandee... We decided to take the placement of the 12y/o boy and he moved in a few weeks ago.. he is so sweet and hopefully he will enjoy being here.. Sandee.. what age kids do you take? Mandy

Mandy, I'm glad that you are having a good experience with your fs after the hard decision of taking him. We are licensed 0-5 years because we are young (married Dec 98, graduated college May 99). If God keeps us fostering we plan to increase the age as our age increases. It just doesn't seem that a 26 year old would be the best choice to parent a 15 year old since the age makes them more of an older sister.....I've heard of times that it's worked but we chose to stay "safer" for now.Sandee

I am in Washington County - I currently have 3 Foster children. I 3yr boy and 2 siblings 10 yr boy and 7yr old girl. My oldest bio son is 23 yr and out on his own. My youngest boy is 17yr. ANy lurkers from Washington County?

Hello. My husband and I are thinking about fostering in MD. Is there a need for foster parents? Also do you have to foster just out of your own county, ours is Harford, or could we foster from surrounding counties? Can you specify ages of children you would like to foster? Thanks for any info.

There is plenty of need for foster parents all over MD. I am in Washington County. Call your Local DSS and find out about class or information sessions. Normally, you just foster for your county. Yes, you can specify the ages, sex, race of the children that you want to foster. It will not stop them from calling you about other children. I want to foster girls 6-10. I have foster 10 kids - only 2 in that category. Do you have any bio chikdren home? If you have questions, PM me.

I'm not in MD but I'm close to it in Virginia... Can I count too :) I'm going to be fostering again for VA in a month or two when the SW gets her report done... If/when I want to adopt again I'd like to try to go through MD as I've heard they have more support of all kinds (college too)

You can call you local DSS or if you are interested in fostering "theraputic" foster children you can go with a private agency and foster from kids from all different counties. You can specify ages etc. From my personal experience.. private fostercare can offer a bit more as they have more resorces for you. If you would like I can send you the name of a private foster agency in baltimore that has kids from all over the state. Mandy

Mandy, That would be great. I appreciate it. You can PM me if you want. I'd love to know more about the system you are working with. Thanks! Allison

I am shocked that in only four years, you had only 2 placements. Are you doing foster-to-adopt or just foster? Or is the need not really there in Baltimore County?

I am so excited. My husband and I are going to our first foster parent info meeting tomorrow night!! I can't wait, just wanted to share!! By the way, what do you have your fc call you? We are looking at age 3 and under. :drive:

Have Fun! I remember going to that first meeting. I was so excited. My foster kids start out by calling us Mrs and Mr first names. Some in time called us Mom and Dad.

I live in Harford County and am interested in fostercare with the intent of adoption. Can anyone provide me with resources. I may be open to theraputic as well as im a pediatric nurse. Thanks.

Hi there. I know this thread is old. We have been liscenced since April. We got one placement, a baby who stayed with us eleven days. That phone call came at the end of June. We thought we would never get called. No calls since. I have been exploring expanding to other counties (we are in Baltimore City). Is the best way to go about this through private agency? I should mention we have four bio kids, the youngest being six. So our age range is 0-5. We want to foster to adopt. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks, Beth