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Has anyone closed their foster home after one child? Did you adopt from foster care only one child then close your home? How was your agency when you told them this?Our first foster went to adoption. I know we are done. One child for us seems to be a perfect fit, right now. Our agency doesn't want us open unless we are prepared to take placements. So much for riding our license out until it expires, waiting on a sib for Smiles.
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I wanted more than one child, but I know others who have done that locally in my area. I met one family who ended up re-opening but more than 2 years had lapsed so they had to redo everything. Keep in mind, you can close your home, but, at least here in OH, your license is good until such a day. I will plan to close my home soon after I have my 2 year renewal. That gives me 2 years for a Chubbs' sibling to come into care. I have already decided that I will not take a sib for BE because his bio mom abuses alcohol and Chubbs' does not. Although, I may change my mind if it comes to that. (Assuming we get to adoption here.)
Hubby and I just got done taking care of a 2 month old and our 20 month old for three hours tonight. Now I know right now is not the right time for another baby. Both kids are demanding in different ways.
Maybe when Smiles is 3 years old it will be the right time. I want to keep our license open/active until it runs out in 18 months. We cannot stay active and no placements for that long of a time we were told.
Ugh.
BirdieBee
Hubby and I just got done taking care of a 2 month old and our 20 month old for three hours tonight. Now I know right now is not the right time for another baby. Both kids are demanding in different ways.
Maybe when Smiles is 3 years old it will be the right time. I want to keep our license open/active until it runs out in 18 months. We cannot stay active and no placements for that long of a time we were told.
Ugh.
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here, even if one closed their homes, if a sibling is born, the home with a sibling will get a call..
maybe you could ask your cw if that would be the case in your county too?
my AD has many adopted siblings, and I know for a fact that she was 'offered' to the other families, due to the sibs being there.. but none of the families wanted anything to do with BM, so they declined.
we went inactive for almost 2 years after we finalized on our kids. then we updated our training and opened again. your agency has no say in your decision to stay active or not. our folks just told us they'd miss us and hoped we would be ready again soon. right now they know that we are only open for the boys we currently have. they're supposed to go home soon, but we'll stay open but inactive again unless they come back again--this is the second time in care in a year, so it's possible. they don't even call us for new placements and we have 2 spots open. they know and we know.if you want or need to close after one, let them know.
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that is actually strange to me. when I adopted, my agency told me they preferred that we not take any new placements for 6 months to allow the kids to adjust to their new family-and that was in spite of the fact that I had already had them for 2 years. I continued to do respite until I realized it was having a negative impact on my sons behaviors and then we finally closed our home. We knew it would mean having to get re-licesned, but we didn't care.
controllnmychaos
Not the case here. We were told they do not have the resources or time to keep a home licensed if they are not accepting placements.
greenrobin
what i was addressing was the idea that your agency needs an explanation. they do not. it is your decision to make. they may have a policy against letting you stay inactive, but to close or not is entirely up to you.
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I spoke with another foster mom yesterday. She said agency cannot make you close your home because you don't want to take placements at this time. The state runs the licensing requirements, not our agency so it might be an agency thing. She's been a foster mom for 20 years and says no to placements for up to a year because she wasn't ready. She also mentioned that she was kinship to one of her foster kids newly born sibling and got to take new baby home from hospital. She also suggested we just let our license run it's course and if our agency calls just tell them no if the time is it right for us. Ideally, we want our license to expire and run it's course. If we are ready for another kiddo in a year, we will still be active.