Help Me understand Foster Care in Pinellas County Florida

And I know they are begging for foster and adoptive homes in the St. Lucie district. We don't have enough to go around!!! We finished our MAPP classes in February (Valentines Day) and didn't get our license until June. These people don't seem to care much about the kids - just doing an 8-5 job. No hurry. No sweat. All the time in the world. There will still be kids when they get done. Not only that, when the agency doing the licenseing gets done with all their stuff - it still has to be approved by DCF because Florida decided we needed another layer of red tape and payrolls between the kids and the state. I'm sorry, this is very scarcastic, it is the way I feel about the whole privatization of the "system". It is hard to work with, slow. Oh the people are really nice, I have no problem with them. Just the "New System". The more red tape, the slower it goes.

Hi, my wife and I did our training through SCC in Largo. Don't hold your breath waiting for kids. It took close to 4 months after we were through with MAPP before we had kids placed with us. Be persistent and don't give up hope.

I think it is funny how they make you do everything before the end of MAPP class 10, such as Dept of Health Inspection which we had done and have been "Approved", lock up all medication and poisonous chemicals and cleaning materials, Pets have to have all vaccination current, take a basic water satey course if you have a pool and purchase a ring buoy for our pool and put up a four feet fence around your pool, lock up alcoholic beverages, put up a screen in our fireplace, buy a fire extinguishor and have it taged by a company, put new locks on doors leading to pool, put in smoke detectors, both of us had to get Physicians's Verification of health, set up a room with furniture for the foster child, turn in the licensing paperwork which is atleast 40 pages of information they need to know about us and your Prospective parent questionaire which is atleast another 35 pages of information they need to know, and get the Livescan fingerprints done for a background check,which we did on Sept 7, 2006. Yet they can take four or more months to get your Homestudy done and get our home Licensed for Foster Care. I am astonished at all the things we had to get done in 2 1/2 months and yet they still take ssssoooo long!!Also we were told that the Livescan (fingerprints) were only good for 90 days, so if it take them so long to do the Licensing we will have to do them again!!! Well I know it will be worth it all in the end when we are blessed with a child in our home!:clap: but I just wish there was a better system for Foster Parents!!!

My husband and I did our MAPP classes in Aug 2005 with SCC in Pasco and we didn't get our license until the end of Oct. I takes a while for everything to get going. We had our first child around Thanksgiving. We're just now getting our first annual relicensing done and it is just as much, if not more of a pain in the butt. SCC is really unorganized and has some problems.

Dear Paradise in Florida,I,m glad to hear that we are not the only ones that have this problem!! The one thing you said in you note about, your "First annual relicensing" is just being done. I would love to know what you had to do for this. I can't image it being any worse then the stuff we have already done!!! We were never told yet about what happens during the First annual relicensing and I would really love hearing it from you, then I'll know what to expect! Thanks so much for your input on the subject, it is great to hear from people!! Have a great day!!

Ok we made it through our Mapp class and have our first homestudy appointment Monday Oct. 23, 2006.:cheer: What I would like to know is if anyone can tell me what to expect at our home study appointment and how long does it take from your first homestudy until we our Certified as a foster home? If anyone lives in Pinellas County, Florida and has gone through this process, could you please give my your input! Thank you so much!!!

Hi ConnieAnn, My wife and I were licensed through safe children's here in pinellas county. Good luck on your homestudy today! They aren't that painful. They pry into your personal lives, and ask some personal questions. Most of which was already answered in the paperwork you filled out. Keep in mind that this will be the first of probably 2 visits. If they need more info it will take longer. Also they only have ONE person who approves the licensing for 3 or 4 counties so it's going to take some time, especially if there were 3 or 4 MAPP classes that ended at or around the same time. It took 3 months after MAPP was finished before we had children placed in our home. Don't get discouraged, just keep following up with your licensing specialist. If you need any other help or advice just let me know. My wife and I would be more than willing to help. We have a 2yr old boy and a 1yr old girl. So far so good, it hasn't been perfect but we have NO regrets. Good luck and keep us updated Dave