Where are the kids???

I live in Riverside County in Southern CA. We got a call and placement for three kids...4 year old boy, 2 year old boy, and 1 year old girl(the two younger ones are 9 mo apart) siblings less than 2 months after last homestudy was completed. We were open to either gender ages 0-7 sibling group of 2-3. So depending on what you were willing to accept, it can take a couple months to well over a year. In my county, those who only wanted girls ages 0-2 no siblings are waiting a very long time. I met a couple of the folks who are on that list and they have been on the list for 1.5 years. Another is almost 3 years. Demand far exceeds supply. Maybe contact your county and find out what is going on and check over your preferences just in case there is something you can change to make it easier but you could handle. Good Luck! Hope you get a call soon.

I live in Riverside County in Southern CA. We got a call and placement for three kids...4 year old boy, 2 year old boy, and 1 year old girl(the two younger ones are 9 mo apart) siblings less than 2 months after last homestudy was completed. We were open to either gender ages 0-7 sibling group of 2-3. So depending on what you were willing to accept, it can take a couple months to well over a year. In my county, those who only wanted girls ages 0-2 no siblings are waiting a very long time. I met a couple of the folks who are on that list and they have been on the list for 1.5 years. Another is almost 3 years. Demand far exceeds supply. Maybe contact your county and find out what is going on and check over your preferences just in case there is something you can change to make it easier but you could handle. Good Luck! Hope you get a call soon.

I would love to have a 0-2 year old female with no siblings. However, the one placement I had was a 2.5 year old boy and we were delighted with him!!!! The few calls I have received have been mostly for sibling sets. There was one for an 8 year old girl and one for a 2 year old boy. In a year I think I might have received a total of 5 or 6 calls and only one has ended in a placement. I am southeast of Houston. Has it been this slow for everyone?

I'm in region 10 and there haven't been any calls since September. I have 2 open beds and will have 3 open by the end of the month. My agency said they haven't gotten any news of placements in a while. A friend who has been waiting for a placement for over a year was told that even the crisis center which is usually full with kids awaiting foster homes only has 4 teenagers and they are waiting for a spot at the RTC.Either all kids are going into kinship placements or they aren't removing kids at all and just providing in home services. It's strange.

I'm in region 10 and there haven't been any calls since September. I have 2 open beds and will have 3 open by the end of the month. My agency said they haven't gotten any news of placements in a while. A friend who has been waiting for a placement for over a year was told that even the crisis center which is usually full with kids awaiting foster homes only has 4 teenagers and they are waiting for a spot at the RTC. Either all kids are going into kinship placements or they aren't removing kids at all and just providing in home services. It's strange.

Well this may explain why my region is not placing kids[url=http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/El-Paso-Hopes-strives-to-prevent-child-abuse-through-1-6-million-grant-110003.shtml#.VRzT9_nF_ng]El Paso Hopes strives to prevent child abuse through $1.6 million grant - KFOX - Breaking News, Weather, and Traffic[/url]EL PASO, Texas -- The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has awarded a grant of $1.6 million to help five different El Paso non-profit organizations form one collaboration of agencies geared toward preventing child abuse in the Borderland.The collaboration, also known as El Paso Hopes, includes direct services delivered by the Child Crisis Center of El Paso, United Way of El Paso, AVANCE, and Paso Del Norte Children's Development Center. The El Paso Center for Children is the primary grantee and serves as the administrator and fiscal manager of El Paso Hopes.El Paso Hopes formed in August of 2014. Organizers said the primary goal of the organization is to prevent future child abuse cases."We are proactive, prevention and intervention," said Sarah Torres, Marketing Director for El Paso Hopes.El Paso Hopes provides assistance to parents who do not have a CPS case, but admit they need a little help raising their child."Parenting is stressful, there's not really a handbook for parent," Torres said. "If there were it would be easy and we would all do it."Torres said one of the risk factors for child abuse is stress."We're not saying that you're going to abuse your child but you know there's no need for a parent to be stressed if we have support programs like these," Torres said.Through the United Way, parents can receive Parents as Teachers (PAT) home visitation and parent education. The Child Crisis Center provides Wrap-Around and Case Management Services to all famliesfamilies served by El Paso Hopes.The Paso Del Norte Children's Development Center also helps provide curriculum to parents of children with special needs.In December, 43 families received services through El Paso Hopes. But now, Torres said there are 229 families receiving those services."We're growing rapidly, we're growing rapidly," Torres said."This grant is necessary because parents are looking for the support systems, parents are looking for assistance in raising their children and the overall goal it to strengthen families and end child abuse with El Paso Hopes," Torres said.The grant was awarded in September 2014 and enrollment of the families began in December 2014.Below are the requirements for families who receive services through El Paso Hopes. To qualify a family must:1. Reside in El Paso County.2. Have a child age newborn through 5 years of age or be expecting the birth of a child.3. Not have an open Child Protective Services CPS investigation or previous CPS investigation that was founded.

Well this may explain why my region is not placing kids [url=http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/El-Paso-Hopes-strives-to-prevent-child-abuse-through-1-6-million-grant-110003.shtml#.VRzT9_nF_ng]El Paso Hopes strives to prevent child abuse through $1.6 million grant - KFOX - Breaking News, Weather, and Traffic[/url] EL PASO, Texas -- The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has awarded a grant of $1.6 million to help five different El Paso non-profit organizations form one collaboration of agencies geared toward preventing child abuse in the Borderland. The collaboration, also known as El Paso Hopes, includes direct services delivered by the Child Crisis Center of El Paso, United Way of El Paso, AVANCE, and Paso Del Norte Children's Development Center. The El Paso Center for Children is the primary grantee and serves as the administrator and fiscal manager of El Paso Hopes. El Paso Hopes formed in August of 2014. Organizers said the primary goal of the organization is to prevent future child abuse cases. "We are proactive, prevention and intervention," said Sarah Torres, Marketing Director for El Paso Hopes. El Paso Hopes provides assistance to parents who do not have a CPS case, but admit they need a little help raising their child. "Parenting is stressful, there's not really a handbook for parent," Torres said. "If there were it would be easy and we would all do it." Torres said one of the risk factors for child abuse is stress. "We're not saying that you're going to abuse your child but you know there's no need for a parent to be stressed if we have support programs like these," Torres said. Through the United Way, parents can receive Parents as Teachers (PAT) home visitation and parent education. The Child Crisis Center provides Wrap-Around and Case Management Services to all famliesfamilies served by El Paso Hopes. The Paso Del Norte Children's Development Center also helps provide curriculum to parents of children with special needs. In December, 43 families received services through El Paso Hopes. But now, Torres said there are 229 families receiving those services. "We're growing rapidly, we're growing rapidly," Torres said. "This grant is necessary because parents are looking for the support systems, parents are looking for assistance in raising their children and the overall goal it to strengthen families and end child abuse with El Paso Hopes," Torres said. The grant was awarded in September 2014 and enrollment of the families began in December 2014. Below are the requirements for families who receive services through El Paso Hopes. To qualify a family must: 1. Reside in El Paso County. 2. Have a child age newborn through 5 years of age or be expecting the birth of a child. 3. Not have an open Child Protective Services CPS investigation or previous CPS investigation that was founded.

Since you are foster to adopt. That means you will adopt kids only. So you only get kids that been TPR. So babies and toddlers go to foster care, parents do the RU plan . If that fails, then the foster parent might choose to adopt them. Since they are really bonded. They usually are chosen because of the bond. Or a relative might adopt. Also your only 0 to 2 are ages that a lot of people want. This might be the reason your not getting a kid. But I would just wait, until you get your child. But it might be a long wait. It will take that one foster parent that wont adopt for some reason.

No. The 1 placement that I have had was removed from his family and placed with me the next day. No TPR had taken place. He was moved to a family placement 3 months later. Luckily we have maintained contact. Also, my preference is 0-2. The few calls that I have received have been mostly for older children. My agency is aware that I want a younger child but they have called with older ones. I just hardly get any calls.

I spoke with my CW today and she told me her case load was very low and she was asked to consider transferring to the department where the CW oversee in home services as those workers are overloaded with cases. They now only remove children if it's a safety issue and not if the child is at risk. So yes, placements are down here by a lot. I checked the state stats and children in fostercare in region 10 has dropped by over 100 children in the past 4 months. I do hope this project works, my CW thinks it's a bandaid over a huge sore.

That is just stunning!

They could have made a mistake with you. Or maybe they do it right before TPR. Since family came intro the pic, they didn't TPR. I'm not getting why you would get just a foster placement. Unless your foster too. Some are foster parents and foster/ adoption placement. If they see foster/ adoption on your name. They may be passing you up, until they get a kid, that most likely wont go back home. Yes under 2 years old will be harder to get. But parent get a chance to get their kids back. So they would be put into a regular foster home. If a parent lost several of their kids, they might put that child or children in a foster/ adoption home.

Rhysa912 is right - foster to adopt around here does not mean that we will only get children that are already legally free, it means that we would like to adopt, if the chance arises. Two of my three placements were not legally free when they came to me, they were infants. The one who was legally free was only with us for two months before moving to family. Rhysa912- I am in your area, there are babies/toddlers coming into care, but probably not as many as at other times. Things seem to go in cycles, soon there may be an abundance of little ones needing a home. Are you with an agency or directly with CPS? The initiative that Ally mentioned is not yet happening here, at least not with the same intensity as in other regions. I think it is good to offer in home services, but don't see it being effective in a large percentage of the homes, the parents who won't work a case plan if the children are removed will not take advantage of what is being offered in home. Those that do take advantage would be the ones that would work their case plan and attend visits. I can just see that at some point a huge percentage of these 100 kids not being taken into care are going to come into care because as good of an idea it is to offer in home services it is not a long-term solution to most of those who don't want or just are not able to safely parent.

LoveBeingMama, I sent you a PM