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I am considering becoming a medical foster parent and would like to hear from others with experience in this area. I live in Boone County...mid-Missouri. I have specific questions, but would love to hear stories about the children you have had in your care.
+ how many children are you licensed to care for and what ages do you accept?
+ I would be the primary care giver in my home...does my husband have to attend the training also? He is rather squeemish.
+ what is the average length of placement in your home and where are the children placed after leaving you...are they only in your home until their medical issues resolve (if they do), or until a permanent home is found?
+ do the kids come preassigned to a primary physician or do you get to choose who treats them (within Medicaide restrictions)?
+ how often do you get respite care...and is it enough?
+ are you aware of a support group in mid-MO?
+ can you suggest any books, magazines, or web sites that would be helpful in my research of this topic?
I really appreciate any knowledge you are willing to share with me. Thankyou
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You should contact Jackie Ellis at 875-1718 Her office does the foster parent training for that area. She is excellent to work with. Her office provides alot of support for foster parents. I am from Callaway County and I have heard of a support group in Boone County but I don't know where or when.
In a regular foster home, you can be licensed for up to 6 children. That does not mean that you have to take 6. You should only take the amount of children that you can provide for. You can choose the age range and sex of the children that would work best in your home. If you don't feel like you can provide care for a child, you can refuse that placement. You have to have a homestudy done and the state will provide this. At this time they will come to your home and help you decide how many children that you will be able to care for.
I have a medical placement that came to me as, I was only going to do respite for a weekend for another foster parent. The foster parent brought all his and his brothers belongins and let me know that she was not coming back to get them. I realized that there was alot more involved than a regular placement. I applied for his placement to be raised to medical. That child is now a medical placement due to his developmental delays. He has 4 therapist that come to my home every week to work with him and I don't see and end in site for therapy. The other child has behaviors that keep me busy also. Most of the time their medical issues are a permanent thing. If it was something temporary, it would be up to you if you were willing to keep them as a regular placement. If they become available for adoption and you were not interested, then they would move whenever a permanent home was found.
There doesn't seem to be an average length of stay. I have had children for 2 weeks and I have had others for 2 1/2 years. Like I said, I took those 2 boys for the weekend, and it has now been 28 months. It has been a heck of a weekend. We received 2 girls that were supposed to be a 2 week placement and after 2 1/2 years, we adopted them. We did have a choice whether we wanted to keep these children or not. You don't have to keep them if things don't go as planned. I kept them out of choice.
Yes, your husband has to attend training. If I remember right, it was around 20 hours. In order to keep your license, you have to attend 30 hours training every 2 years.
You choose the physicians unless they have major needs that are already being treated under a physician. I have left some on the physician they came under and I have changed some. They best way to do it is to contact their caseworker and ask them if there would be a problem if you are wanting to change physicians.
A weekend a month of respite is usually provided but you can ask for more if needed. I find it to be enough. I actually wish I could take it an hour here and an hour there.
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