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So...lots of life changes and we are talking about maybe fostering now. One maybe problem with the house though. We have no furnace, we heat with a woodstove. It keeps it perfectly cozy, but I'm worried we'd be disqualified because of it. I know we'd probably have to put a safety gate/fence thing around the hearthpad, but I'm worried the stove won't be acceptable as a sole heat source...we're in NY. I looked at this [url]http://ocfs.ny.gov/main/publications/Pub5032.pdf[/url] but it just talks about a heating appliance. I guess that means maybe it would be ok but I don't want to start thinking maybe again and have the rug pulled out from under us like last time (JUST started learning and talking about it and Dh got ill-he's ok now, but we basically gave up after 2 years of drs not knowing what it was-ended up being severe migraines). The whole idea is kinda scary in a way, other people holding your heart in their hands basically, if they say yes or no...Friends of ours ended up as legal guardians of their niece and it rekindled the idea for DH when we had given up on fostering or becoming parents after the few years of drs and unknowns....
So...um...anyone have any insight on this potential issue?
I'm sure all counties and states have different regulations when it comes to woodstoves. I live in a small hamlet in a very rural county in Northern California, where we have two choices for heating: woodstoves or propane. Our woodstove was never a licensing problem, but they were VERY stringent about gating the area off so little kids can't touch the stove. Your best bet is to just ask the agency how they handle woodstoves.
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Different state, but I do know people here who have only wood and people who are off grid who foster. You are right about needing to gate it off (a good idea anyway, in my opinion). I had a woodstove when I was licensed (replaced with pellet since then as a single parent of one already and adding foster babies) - all they cared about was how I gate it off and whether it was installed correctly.