stocked up on clothing prior to being licensed question???

I have my 'emergency stocked up clothing' that I bought in good used condition and stuff from consignment stores and a few garages sales. Those clothes I keep (unless a child really likes something then I let them take it.) Most of the time the parents have said, oh don't send anything keep it for another child. Angel left a bunch of clothes she grew out of 'for the next foster girl in case she has ugly clothes' her STBAM oked it. I send anything I buy specifically for them while they're here or anything they really attach to. Toys that they fall in love with go on with them same for shirts or dresses that they like.

I have had two placements,both little ones that ended up going to a grandparent. I to bought a lot of clothes before each placement. It was nice BC my husband and I didn't have to scramble and buy new clothes the day we picked them up!. When each kiddo left us, I put them in an outfit I had and sent one more with them. I also sent a couple toys with each. Sadly, these kids were going to homes where I'm not sure if grandparents could afford toys or a few new outfits- so it just felt right.

I have a HUGE stash because we take larger sibling groups. Often we aren't able to go shopping for a couple of days after a placement, and I really need to have clothing, including at least one very nice, visit appropriate outfit. We live out in the boonies, and really, who wants to take 10 kids through Target ;-) - or the be the one left at home with 10 kids while your spouse goes to Target. Our kids usually end up going to kin if they leave, so I try to send them with a week's worth of clothes, winter things if needed, new shoes, etc..., even if they only stay a few days, so I'm constantly replacing things. Most of the kin are really struggling, so I've spent a lot of time and energy building up my stash - things friends and family's children have outgrown, yard sale and thrift shop finds, etc... Every time I think I've got what I need, I get a kid who I really didn't have the stuff for (never thought an 8 year old would be wearing size 16 girls clothes, didn't have summer newborn boy clothes since all my sons were winter, etc...) so I've expanded my collection (I also have four very tall bio boys, so we have almost every boy's size anyway). I have clothes for pretty much every size kid you could imagine, plus PJs, coats, jackets, etc... I joke that I'm running a consignment shop. In terms of sending home, whatever is the kids' clothes that lived in their drawers goes with them. So I usually put in their drawers some stuff from my stash and then add in new things I buy for them at the beginning or presents from us/family. I rarely deplete my whole stash, but I give away a lot of it at a time (this summer I had FOUR boys wearing the exact same size pants - that time I depleted my stash and still had to go shopping!) so I'm always looking for more. I have a box for each size, so when that's full with nice things I like, I don't take any more in that size - until the box empties out again.

We have a closet full of boxes marked with kids clothes ages infant to 6 yrs old. My husband has quite the organized system in place. He even has 3-4 pairs of shoes stored away for these ages. Since we get a clothing allowance of about $200, we always make a point to send some clothes and shoes home with them when they go. Anything we estimate over the $200 stays..this often includes the Adidas/Converse shoes and higher end designer clothes...my husband does mostly all the clothes shopping and he's kind of a diva about it. We always send them home with toys. Its cool that you are prepping like this as it is very difficult to get clothes shopping done right when a placement comes into your home. Don't forget to buy pull ups. Right now we have a kiddo they asked us to potty train and we found the best time to start that is right when they move in. It's like adding it as part of their new routine in your home. The pull ups make it so much easier. I hope you get a placement soon!