Anyone else currently fostering or adopting in Riverside County?

Hello Yes my husband and I are going through the process now with riverside county......we are waiting for our homestudy to be done.......If you have already finished your homestudy could you please let me know what it was like? what questions did they ask you? did they require any more paper work from you? What do they want if you Have dogs? any information would be great.....How long after you finished your class and turned in all paper work did you get your home study done?

Hi Moon, The homestudy was easy. For us the SW came and did the individual questions and then talked to us both (mom and I since she lives here with me) together. Basically the questions are pretty much similar to what they asked during interviews and went over paperwork and autobiography. Questions included things like why you wanted to adopt, financial things, etc. SW did go into our backgrounds and asked a few questions about that (such as how I felt about being adopted and being separated from my siblings, education, jobs, etc). A lot of the questions were similar to ones that were asked as part of homework in the classes (our SW never looked at the homework nor asked for it). The questions asked when we were together had to do with what our relationship was like (do we get along), who will be there to take care of the kids when the other is gone (my mom will be the other caregiver if I am gone since she lives with me), religious affiliations, type of kids we were willing to take, etc. The individual interviews in our home took about 1.5 hrs total. The interview with both of us was about 30 min - 1 hr. SW also had a tour of the house and looked at where the childrens bedrooms were and how they looked. She met the dogs as well. She also took note of where the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors were as well as knives and meds (much like the licensing people). The homestudy was actually the easiest part of the entire process. I do not recall needing anymore paperwork. She mostly just reviewed and confirmed paperwork given previously. She did not ask for anything pertaining to our dogs (4 dogs at the time, 3 now). She just met them and asked about their temperaments. We were kind of shocked because in our last county you have to show proof of vaccinations (rabies mostly) and spaying (unless you are a breeder). No one asked about that here. Luckily they are all current with vaccinations, spayed and licensed so we are prepared if they ever do ask later. Now for the update. 1.5 mo after the homestudy, we got a call for 3 kids (siblings). 4 year old boy, 22 mo boy, and 14 mo girl. They have been with us since Dec now...the 2 younger ones are now 25 almost 26 mo, and 17 mo. The call happened early in the 2nd week of Dec. The full disclosure was couple days later, and placement was the following week. There was no transition this time because the boys (particularly the 4 year old) were not thriving in foster home which they were in for a year. The girl was some reason in a separate foster home and has been in the system since birth (meth addicted). She only had monthly visits with her brothers so we are the first home that all three live together. Hoping to adopt but waiting on last hearing on what will happen to their bio mom's rights (she just had her 8th kid!!!). The kids do still have a monthly visit with bio mom about 1.5-2 hrs away from us so we have to take them there in which she continues to bring food trying to win the kids over knowing how bad the food is for the 25 mo old....apparently this county allows the bio parents to bring food which is def dif than other counties. Luckily the meetings are supervised. And since being in our care, they have only had one visit with their 4 older siblings. So def be prepared for visits if you get a child n which the parental rights have not been terminated yet. These visits really traumatize the 25 mo old and the 17 mo old....they freak out big time at every visit.

We were still waiting on home being licensed while in the classes in June/July. So we called the person who does the licensing which SW recommended we do. So The licensing was done in July about 2 weeks after last class was completed. Then the call from our SW for homestudy which was completed in mid Oct. 1/25/2014 orientation 1/27/2014 application submitted 3/2014 interviews 6/2014 classes start 7/2014 classes finished 7/2014 home licensed 10/8/2014 homestudy complete 12/9/2014, got the call for a sibling group of 3 (no time for transition for specific reasons):happydance: 12/11/2014, full disclosure 12/16/2014, 4 year old boy :male: , 22 mo old boy :male:, and 14 mo old girl:female: arrived:happydance: :love: :wings:

Hi! Moon1968, Congratulations on taking the steps to foster/adopt in Riverside County we need lots of good homes. We did our homestudy years ago and it was exactly like SC1990 stated. We are in the process of adoption and you have to redo your homestudy with every adoption. So our most recent was definitely the same paperwork we filled out years ago and the same questions all over again. Goodluck on your process!! and I pray the process moves fast for you! who's your SW? curious..

Thank you so much for all the information.....it has really helped me a lot.......this whole process still feels all new to me ...and i am having a lot of different emotions and feelings and thoughts about this whole process. Today we are officialy finished with all the paper work and classes. Will kepp you updated as to what happens next

We have been "working" with San Bernardino County for 2 years trying to adopt with no luck and was wondering if it would even be worth it to have our worthless social worker send our file over to Riverside ....

Riverside only works with Riverside County residents. It is very rare for riverside to work with other counties unless it is a relative placement. Sometimes they do send kids across the county lines, but that is not often and that is only in certain circumstances. You would have to contact DPSS in riverside county. If they will allow you to work with Riverside county, that would be great, but the issue will be that most bio parents still have rights and visitation and you would have to be the one to take the child to those visit....older kids generally are already freed from adoption, but the younger ones are not. If placed in your home to adopt are kids who caseworkers are pretty sure case will go adoption, so you will most likely get kids who are not freed quite yet. So transportation between counties will be more difficult depending on where the bio parents are coming from (visits tend to be closer to bio parents). I have 3 kids in my home and had to drive an hour and half one way to visits (palm springs area). And that was once a month. You may get kids that are in more visits each month. Who knows. Contact riverside dpss and find out. As for San Bernardino county, I agree they suck. I was trying to adopt about 3-4 years ago when I lived there in AV and they would not approve me because our chain link fence and 2 inch holes in it instead of 1-1/4 inch...they insisted that 2 inch (which is the standard) would make it too easy for small kids to climb up...which was ridiculous because small kids can easily climb the smaller gaps. The cost to remove all the old fencing around backyard and around pool and put in new would have been over 7,000 bucks! Their rules were odd. I moved here in 2013 and started the process here in Riverside in Jan 2014 and it has been pretty good experience. The county is understaffed so you have to call them if you dont hear anything after awhile, but other than that it has been a smooth ride. We were approved for up to 3 kids (could have gotten 4 but car can only take 3 carseats in back seat). Last homestudy was in October 2014 and then got the call in early Dec for 3 kids (siblings)...4 year old boy, 22.5 month old boy(now 28 months), and a 14 month old girl (now 18 months). Kids arrived a week before Christmas. They usually do transitioning, but the boys (who were separated from their sister) were not thriving in last foster home for a year and needed to get them out ASAP. Lots of bad parenting and such from foster parents (they were fostering for money and didnt care about the boys). So there was no time for transiting. They arrived 5 days after full disclosure. But all is well now. Visits with bio mom once a month. No more visits now. Parental rights terminated couple weeks ago. If you dont mind me asking, what were your preferences in SB county? Here if you are willing to take sibling groups, or either gender or boys, or older kids you would get priority. We went for ages 0-5 siblings of 2-3 either gender so we were basically fast tracked for placements and everything. Most want infants only ages 0-2 girl and those people wait the longest as well as those wanting an infant only either gender. So maybe take a look at preferences and see if there is a way to get a chance at placement sooner. Also consider calling your county and ask for a new social worker and find out why no kids have been placed assuming your preferences are not so strict. Good luck.

Sorry, just saw this. No the 8th gets to stay with bio mom. But bio mom lost rights to all of the other 7. The older 3 half sibs going with paternal family, oldest half sib with grandmother or something, then these 3 with me. The baby gets to stay with bio mom. If if they did take the 8th into care, we ould not be able to take it because we are approved for 3 kids and dont see how we could handle 4 as well as the car situations. The back seat of our car fits all three carseats with all three kids, while us adults in the front...so no room and a van is not possible for us. The baby is half related so it would most likely go to family members of father. With this bio mom it is 8 kids, and 3 different dads. She apparently started dating the new babys father a month after the girl (the one now with us) was born!

Thank you SC1990 !We are trying for up to two kids , 0-5, gender doesn't matter.