My First Foster Support Group Meeting

My licensing agency has a monthly foster care support group. I'm not officially licensed yet, my Home Study is still being written and needs to get approved. Oh, and I just found out they need to meet my dogs since they may have some pit in their blood. No way to know really if they do, since they are both rescues and their parents are unknown... So, should be another few weeks before I receive the actual license.

The first support group meeting was interesting. It was kind of funny because I'm all "bright eyed" about it and everyone else is a little tainted from the process... I can see me getting to that point very quickly. I couldn't believe the stories they all had. Some heartbreaking, some straight out scary, some funny. What I noticed is that the more kids they had in the house the more complicated it got. I think for sanity purposes, i would not take more than 3-4 kids (in the future of course). There's just too much going on with one child, think about 4! Oh my.

I wasn't deterred from wanting to pursue this. I was very interested to find out that out of the 4 groups of people at the support group: Two had adopted and still foster, one was looking to adopt but is currently fostering, and one is looking to adopt her current placements. They also provided some great book references! I've already requested one from my library. Also, it was great to hear some of the ways they've had to get creative with rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior! I'm not even going to try to make a list now, I know that it's all going to be thrown out the door once the kids come in!

What was sad, one of the foster moms was talking about a recent incident with her foster daughter who is 11 years old. It was crazy, but the way she was describing the situation - it sounded exactly like me at that age! I was kind of shocked at that. Made me start thinking how I would deal with such scary and tragic events if I had a child with a similar situation.

My heart just goes out to all the children in foster care. I just can't believe the things that happened to them. What's the oddest thing is, it's not un-normal. Statistically, the types of abuse that they have experienced is more wide spread than what we think. It's heartbreaking.

Onto the next phase of waiting! But it's not that much longer. I need to get my house in order. Meaning "clean" and everything put away. I have a lot of junk, want to get rid of it before I get my first placement. I'm anxious and excited and nervous!

Officially Completed all Requirements to Foster

Officially, officially! All the paper work is in. All the pre-foster care home visits are done. The interviews are complete. The papers are signed. My licensing specialist is completing my home study this weekend. Not sure how long it will take to get a placement. My age group was changed to accept 1 or 2 children from ages 4 through 14. Which means I can either receive a sibling group or two children from different families in that age range.

I am very excited to be done with the entire process! It really wasn't too bad, when you think about the immense responsibility that being a foster parent involves. I'm anxious to just get started. I want to plan things for April - May, but want to wait to see how things look and who is placed in my home. There will be challenges, yes. There will be things I'm not prepared for, yes. But the overall thing I'm focused on is helping these children and assisting in finding permanency for them. It will be an interesting journey. I'm just ready to get the ball rolling!

CPR Certified

Last official class to get licensed for Foster care is complete! I now am CPR certified. I've taken a CPR class before, when I was 19. I don't remember it being as hard. But giving compressions is hard work! Now, the countdown begins on when I will complete everything. All pending stuff:

1. Last reference form (mailed this week back to the agency). 
2. California background check. Who knows how long that will take! 
3. Last home visit from my licensing specialist and double checking my water heater temperature. 
4. Agency to write home study. 

Then, done!

I still haven't decided when I will be available to take children... I've been going back and forth on it. I think all the paper work will be completed by the end of this month. If that happens, I will be able to take children at the beginning of April. I had the thought to wait till June, just because of some prior commitments. But that seems so far away and there are children that need foster homes... I'm going to sit on it for a little while longer. I'm leaning towards being available right away.

Home Inspection Complete

Had my home inspection this morning. The inspector from OCLR came an hour early! I was surprised at that. Since when are State employees early. Plus, I had a conference call for work. It wasn't really convenient. But what can you do.

It was really quick, he was in and out in about 30 minutes. The only thing that I was in violation of was the water temperature. It was at 130 degrees. My licensing specialist will do her last home visit and see it corrected, then it'll be OK.

All that's remaining is CPR, which is tomorrow. My last reference form, which was mailed back this week. And my background check from California. Then I'll be officially licensed for foster care. Seems like it was a long time, but really - from November 2010 to March 2011, 5 months and I'm almost done!