Moving to PA

i don't know about montgomery county, but we adopted from cumberland co. and get the day rate for our son, it is 15 something and goes up as he gets older.

Thanks jbee, May I ask, how far cumberland county is from montgomery county? Like I said before I have never been to PA so I am not sure how far or close to Philly the areas are, we are retired military and we have heard the Willow Grove in Montgomery county has a military base, so that is the reason we were thinking about montgomery county. My husband will be moving up and starting his new job on Monday and he will try to get out an about and talk to people to get an idea as to where would be a good place to live. I am really excited but a little afraid because this is different than a military transfer. Thanks so much for responding to me.

Hi YaYaPow, I worked for the army in NJ and moved to PA 3 years ago. (They PCS'd me to New Cumberland and I now work for DLA). I live in Dauphin County (Harrisburg - about 1 to 1 1/2 hours due west of Philly). I work in Cumberland County. The foster rate is about $27/day in PA (slight differences depending on private agency, children & youth, counties, etc). The adoption subsidy is negotiated for each child and is different for each child. It also depends on the county and resources. We adopted from Northumberland county and only get $7 a day for our son, but quite honestly, he doesn't have any needs that warrant a higher subsidy (plus we get the healthcare til he's 18). Im not sure if I can post the following link, but there is a website for Montgomery County's Children and Youth: [url=http://mcocy.montcopa.org/mcocy/site/default.asp]Office of Children and Youth[/url]. There's also the Statewide Adoption Network website (SWAN): [url=http://www.diakon-swan.org/]Welcome to DIAKON Lutheran Social Ministries[/url]If you contact SWAN (call the 800 number they will send you a list of agencies in a surrounding area that do foster, fost to adopt and adoption services. You can also call montgomery county's children and youth directly. Here you can become licensed/approved either with the county or with a private agency. If you go with the county, the daily rate may be slightly higher, but the workers are more overworked. If you go with an agency, the rate may be slightly less, but you may get help with transporatation for visits, appointments, etc. Plus you have access to a worker that responds more quickly. The local adoption website is: [url=http://www.adoptpakids.org/]Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange[/url]. Good luck in your move! Jbee - what county do you live in? Are you near Cumberland Co?

I am in lancaster county and I have one placement from Harrisburg, dauphin county. i am getting a placement on Monday and I forget what county they are from. They had called me with one from Cumberland county (where is that?) and this was another county that I wasnt familar with. My agency pays fairly well. They are based in middletown so it might be a good drive from philly! I do know they are pretty desperate right now, I am one of their only homes with empty beds, and as of Mon. I will be full and overflowing.

My daughters were adopted through Montgomery County, and that is where I live. If I can be of any assistance please feel free to PM me

hey guys i live in franklin county, it is on the border with md. cumberland co. is between franklin and whatever county harrisburg is. carlisle is the county seat of cumberland co., carlisle is about 35-40 min up I81 from us, then harrisburg is about an hour north on 81. i am about 45 minutes east of gettysburg, adams county, where our two fs are from. mesh my mother in law lives in middletown, by harrisburg

I live in Montgomery county though I foster through a private agency in Philadelphia.

KIMB1005 What is the difference between the county and private agency? I have never fostered with an agency, we foster through the county here in GA and we are always pretty full. If I went with an agency in PA, what are the chances that I would have placements most of the time

i think it depends on the agency. in my town there are three in addition to the county. the county pays the agencies, who pay you. you get more if you go through an agency, but our particular one i think has more training in the beginning and yearly required. we get the best pay in the area but our agency usually gets hard to place kids..older ones, behavior issues, etc. it is very rare for someone in ours to get a baby or toddler, or young child without big problems. we got our son because we took his mom too. i think an agency is supposed to give you more support, and be the go between between the county and you. an agency can get kids from neighboring counties (ours does) where the county gets county kids only, i think. i think how soon you get a kid depends on the county, if your agency is on good terms with the county, and how much your agency pays. if the county can give the kids to a lower paying agency they usually will. why pay more? this is our experience, i dunno about anyone else.

Thanks, jbee That makes sense I will just have to check it out after we get there. I really don't want older kids or a lot of behavior issues because we have to boys of our own. we may just go through the county.

I am with a private agency. The pay is better, the support supposedly is better then the county. You need to take lots more training, and they often are the ones on your side, but county has final say in everything. A friend of mine was looking for a baby and she was told her chances are 50% better with the county. I have gotten calls for over 20 kids in 2 months time, 7 of those 5 and under. 5 and under is rare.

I had some issues when I spoke with the MontCo DHS regarding placement, the age range I was willing to take and possibel adoption. Part of our issue was that I was told they prefer to keep the child in the township they are removed from and there is not much call for foster familis in my area. So, I decided to work with a provate agency. Philadelphia DHS contracts out, they do not have their own foster agency. There are a fair number of agencies and each are assigned a rotation so it makes referrals a bit more sporadic. When an agency gets a call, they are given an hour to find placment or it goes to another agency. We chose Catholic Social services as I liked their CW and they will also pay for Catholic school so the foster child could attend with my boys. I'm not sure what the differnet rates are vs. agency in Phila and MontCo DHS. That being said, we have only received 2 referrals --one ended up going to a drug rehab placement with mom, I had to turn the other one down as I was finishing up the schoolyear and couldn't take off. My DH also had to go out of town. We are also fairly specific due to my bios on what our family can take so...

Can you tell me if you went with a private agency or with Montgomery County Children & Youth. I am investigating agencies at present that are respectful of foster parents and that have foster/adopt program and that work with SWAN. I heard of one in Chester County that takes children from Montgomery County, Delaware County, Chester County & Lancaster County as well as being affiliated with SWAN. Their name is Friends Assn. for the care and protection of children. There is also another one called Friendship House....it's a bit larger. I believe Friends Assn may be more in line with treating us well which is important to me since the county agency that I have been working with has withheld information from me and has been disrespectful in my opinion (condescending) and not responsive to my needs at all--borderline offensive. Any advice would be appreciated.

I think if you're looking for younger kids with fewer or milder issues, you'll probably want to go the county route as others have suggested. As far as places to live that are within driving distance of Philly, the surrounding counties are Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, Bucks, and parts of Berks. In addition, there's the states of Delaware and New Jersey. Obviously, there are good and bad parts of each county and I would really just suggest doing some research on school systems, taxes, etc. There's an extremely wide disparity with taxes from county to county - AND township to township. Plus, some townships have a local income tax, others don't. I'm in Chester County myself so can't speak to Montgomery County (although I go there frequently to shop!). You may want to keep in mind where the train stations are as many people commute into the city via the regional rails. Just a thought, anyway.