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i have been going through the licensing process and it all seemed to be going ok so far. i live in a studio so i wasn't sure how that would be accepted. i was initially told the studio size is ok for infants to 2 years of age. i just found out that i will only be able to do emergency and respit care due to the size of my place. i totally understand and if i had a placement that was 1 and stayed for a year it would not be fair to make them have to re-adjust to a new home when they turned 2 because my place is to small. i get it. it would be a terrible thing to do to a little one after they got adjusted.
i would be lying if i said i wasn't a little upset since i now can't do regular foser care and i believed for the last few months that it would be ok. i am trying to think that maybe at least now i can be a part of many lives instead of just one for long term and that maybe my heart wont be so broken from attatchement since these will be short term stays. i haven't really convinced my self of these benefits just yet but i'm trying to look at the situation as positively as i can.
Do you have a pretty flexible schedule? Seems like emergency and respite only would be well suited for stay at home fosterparents.
Good luck...and indeed, you will get to impact many lives. Respite is well needed. I fostered for 6 years and never used it as I just couldn't get comfortable leaving my lil ones with strangers. I had my family members and a woman who I know who had a licensed home daycare do respite for me. I had to fight to get her added to the payment list but they let me do it. She kept him for a week when I went to the islands w friends for my 40th bday. My FS loved her!
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That would be upsetting! I met a lady in PRIDE training who had a 2 bedroom apartment and since her older son was using one of the bedrooms, she would be using her room and they told her she would be licensed for infant-2 years.
If a child was with you for a year they would place them in an adoptive home anyway. Maybe you should just ask again. Did OOL already come and license you?
hopingtofoster
i have been going through the licensing process and it all seemed to be going ok so far. i live in a studio so i wasn't sure how that would be accepted. i was initially told the studio size is ok for infants to 2 years of age. i just found out that i will only be able to do emergency and respit care due to the size of my place. i totally understand and if i had a placement that was 1 and stayed for a year it would not be fair to make them have to re-adjust to a new home when they turned 2 because my place is to small. i get it. it would be a terrible thing to do to a little one after they got adjusted.
i would be lying if i said i wasn't a little upset since i now can't do regular foser care and i believed for the last few months that it would be ok. i am trying to think that maybe at least now i can be a part of many lives instead of just one for long term and that maybe my heart wont be so broken from attatchement since these will be short term stays. i haven't really convinced my self of these benefits just yet but i'm trying to look at the situation as positively as i can.
I can understand why you would be upset.....but, ALL of my placements came to me as emergency placements. My 1st emergency placement became my son! I don't know, though, if you are only licensed for emergency placement- can the child stay for only a certain amount of time? I'm thinking that if you are paced with an infant as an emergency placement, and tell DYFS that you can keep her for the foreseeable future, they may leave the baby with you instead of moving her again.
Good luck!
thanks for the input. the crazy thing is i would be licensed for 0-2 as those would be the ages that don't need a private room but my worker said she wants me to do respite so we don't have to potentially move a child again. i guess you have to be licensed for an age group no matter what role you play. again, i totally understand and would in no way want to add any extra trauma to a childs life that already has had struggles. i have my last homestudy tomorrow and i will make sure i ask if i will only be able to do respite or em care for as long as i live in my current residence. i really hope tomorrow she says that it will still be a possibility to foster in a traditional sense at some point even though i am here in a studio. i do work part time so i think as far as having an open schedule, yes, respite and em care would work out. irelady10 thanks for mentioning about your son being your first em care. its wonderful to hear such a happy ending.
i just had my last homestudy and i in fact will be licensed for 0-2 but simply meaning that those are the ages i can have here, not that i can do traditional fostering. i can only do respite (and em care) to avoid the risk of having to possibly place a child again if they stayed until 2years of age :( i understand but i guess i believed i would have been able to be more involved as this wasn't mentioned until last visit. over this past week i thought maybe i missunderstood but as clarified today, it's just respite for me.
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