New and Nervous

Hello! I would throw to much info at you to soon if I answered your question. The only thing I can think of to say now is welcome, stick to your guns when working with anyone involved with the system (social workers, bio's, kids!) and enjoy the ride!!

Oh and be confident in yourself and your decisions. That can be hard sometimes but is much needed. :)

I would recommend taking things slowly. Ask your worker to give you one child who is not too troubled. Know what age you are looking for and stick to that age. We were in over our head with our first placement and it went really bad. We have only been fostering for a couple years and for a long while we only took one child. When we were comfortable with one child we went to two. Although we are able to take two, we don't take siblings. We make sure one child is settled before taking on a second.

My DH and I haven't received a placement yet and we've only been licensed a week, but my advice would be to be patient. The whole process took longer than I had expected. I'd recommend preparing for a longer process to being approved and then if you get approved early all the better. :banana: Best of luck to you! Jen

Is there a foster parent support group in your county? Start going to those meetings... those foster parents can be INVALUABLE as you get into the process. Also - what really helped us transition into the swing of things was to do some respite for other families (most of whom we met at the aforementioned support group meetings!). This way you can see what it's "like" but you know they go home Sunday at 4pm!!!!!! In my state you have to get "licensed" as a respite provider, but if you already have your background check and finger prints you should be most of the way there. Check with the class leader - they should be able to give you more info. Have you thought about ages? I did our room in neutral colors so it would be ok for boy or girl and left the walls bare so we could hang pictures together. Do you have a library card? The library can be your best friend. If you don't have one - now would be a good time to get one. They will usually have "kits" for little kids - you can just go get stuff for whatever developmental stage they are at. Scout out parks in your area. Figure out where people take kids in the winter in your area on the weekends instead of the park.... rec center? Indoor pool? YMCA? Get info on passes, and find out if you can get a break on the price because you do foster care. If you don't already have kids..... you should find out what your neighborhood schools are (K-12), so that when they call you at 3am and tell you the name of the school you know if the kids will have to transfer, or if it's a do-able commute for you to drive them (like if it's on your way to work, for example). you don't need to contact schools until you have an actual placement. However, if you don't have any kids already in school, you might want to call each school and find out about before/after school care - if that is something that you will need. Also a tip that a seasoned foster mom gave me that would have been really helpful had someone told us when we were newbies..... there is at least ONE school in every city that is where the "alternative" kids go. The kids that can't be in a regular classroom, or have been in trouble with the law etc. This way when you ask what school the kid attends, you will know to delve a bit more into behaviors if they go to that school. You can also start looking at which daycares will take the state subsidy. your class leaders may have a list - but more than likely you will just be calling daycares (if you are going to take a placement under 5). Scout out consignment kids stores. usually there is 1 or 2 in each town that will have nice stuff that is cheap. You can get strollers, pack&plays etc for a good deal. That way you know where to go and you aren't scrambling when you get a call. But you don't need to buy too much stuff ahead of time - unless you are set on ages and know you will only have 0-3, for example. Then go ahead and get a car seat etc. Good luck and have fun!