DCFS or an Agency?

Here it's definitely true. We switched from agency to county, it took about 4 month, and had more calls then ever before. here all the kids go through the county and ONLY THE ONES that the county cant place are then offered to the agencies ...mostly older and/or kids with issues ... We wanted a baby. So we switched after 3 years. Our son entered our home @2 days old just 4 month later:thankyou:

Ok thank you for your help. I heard that exact thing in pride traning. So in your experiemce do you think if I mention this to my caseworker she would be upset by it?

I can say in WA, it is definitely true. DSHS will go through their list of FPs and then if they can't find a placement, they will ask the agencies. I don't know how hard it would be to switch, you could ask your PRIDE instructor for direction. Good luck!

I noticed that in your info it says you are from the same state as me. If that is still the case then this is how it has been explained to me:Where I live there is DCFS and 2 agencies (though now it is only 1). So 3 different offices, for lack of a better word. Each office is assigned a certain time slot to take calls. If a call comes in during their time slot, then they make the calls among their home to try and place a child. If they can't do so, then the next office takes over and tries their homes to find a child. Once they are in a foster home, if they are moved, it is more likely they are moved to a home within the same agency they came in with, though it doesn't have to be this way.On our STABS's papers it says that Agency #1 was the placement agency, but that is because at the time, all kids came in through them and then were placed by whatever agency was 'on-call' at that time. So, basically, they all take turns.I've talked to others in our state and this seems to be how it is done in other locations too. This makes it so much easier than trying to figure out who gets what kinds of kids and such. I've actually had good luck just flat out asking when I called the licensing office of our agency. I did it to double check and see if they gave me the same answer as the 800# I called to find offices near us that we could foster through.There was only one time that we got a call from our agency for a kid who was just being taken into care. This kid lived nearest to us out of all the other homes in our agency, because we are so far out. They needed an answer right away since the first agency to call back with a "yes, we have a family" was the agency/office the kid was going to be through. An odd situation as the kid was actually between three large cities and kind of in a no-mans land. Not sure there has even been so many agencies/offices looking for a place for a kid. :)

I licensed with DCFS fifteen years ago. While most of my placements have been through DCFS, there were times when the kids' cases were moved to a private agency. In each case, the kids stayed in my care. For the past few years, my license has been with a private agency that specializes in therapeutic care.

Thank you guys for all of your info. Last week we were placed with a 10 month old little one. This little one has completly stolen all of our hearts. I was wondering if you guys knew he will be a year soon should I see if my bio son's doctor will accept him as a patient or how does that work. Also I was curious do you guys ask the caseworker about when the court dates are so you can find out what is going on or does the caseworker normally inform you?

I ask the caseworker about court dates or I get them at the previous court hearing. You are in the same state as I am and should get notification from your child's GAL also, but that doesn't always happen. I always double check my dates with the caseworker.

Ditto this.I used to be afraid of bothering the CW. Now there are some days I call several times and leave messages as I remember things to ask.Also, I created a form on my computer that I use for every monthly home visit. I include questions to be asked.

I am struggling with this right now too. Whether to start this process with an agency or DCS?? There were some negative comments posted about DCS in my town. But, on the flip side, it seems as if if I would have more results for placements with DCS. What to do???

I heard several different things in class. We are licensed through a private agency and 2 weeks after we were licensed we got a call. So I guess it all just depends.

In our state, all kids are first attempted to be placed thru DCS, if they can't find a spot or if their needs are greater than a "basic" foster home (i.e. need special care or a theurapeutic-level home), then they are placed thru an agency. So in our area, if you are looking for younger children or smaller sib groups, etc., DCS is your best option as they usually find a spot more quickly for them and don't need to call on an agency. Agencies cost our state more money per placement than their own foster homes, so they prefer to use their own foster homes. If you really have a heart for special needs kids, an agency is your best option.