a year ago I was preparing to move into a home I fell in love with. one of the things I loved was the 3 bedrooms, 2 more than I needed. that was the start of my path to fostering, simple but true- I had the space.
through my job that I love, I work with families of children birth to 3 years old. because of the nature of our work (Early Intervention), we deal with a LOT of children's services cases. this means there's an open case plan either because the child was abused, neglected, born exposed to drugs, the parents can no longer take care of them, or a handful of other situations. I came into contact with quite a few discouraging foster parents- people who smoke in front of their kids, don't provide for their development, & bad mouth the primary parents. but more often then those situations were the inspiring foster parents- who love what they do, see the real need for caring, healing homes, and answered the call. a specific meeting with a foster mom who encouraged me made me decide to sign up for the classes. I had the passion.
the final decision was time. I am a super busy person- it's what drives me & I thrive having lots to do. this meant taking the classes wouldn't fit into my schedule for several more months, & I would have to shift my focus from other areas I was volunteering in. finally the timing was right- so I started pre-service foster/ adoptive parenting classes in June 2016.
the classes are 36 hours through my local Children's Services agency. they're free, & usually take 6 weeks to complete with two 3 hour classes a week. I had to start them in the summer & finished them the week before my 26th birthday. after the classes, you get a background check (the agency covers the cost). you fill out a lot of paperwork (which I oddly like doing). then a home study case worker is assigned to you, & the visits start. there's an initial home visit with more paperwork & a safety inspection. you have to have multiple references, both personal & work, fill out paperwork and submit it. I had a medical exam over the summer & then had to get a TB test. they ask you to list back-up babysitters, & then these people have to have a background check completed as well. they are the only people you can leave your child with (besides your approved daycare). because I work full-time, daycare is paid for through the county- I had to find a daycare, toured it, & put myself on the waiting list. I will be taking only one child, under the age of 6 months. then there's a second home visit- a thorough personal interview about my relationships, social history, how I was raised, my family life, etc. the last step is the fire inspection which I'm working on getting scheduled this week, then all my paperwork is submitted to approve my license.
in the meantime during this process, I have had a wonderful friend offer to post needs I had on her Facebook mom's group. they have blessed me so much! you are required to have everything set up by the time of the final home inspection, and I'm OCD, so it's been set up for over a month now :)
this process has felt like forever, but I'm trying to be patient through the last few steps & prepare for my life to change. I'm so grateful to have a huge support system of family & friends, & especially thankful to have God & His word guiding me through it all. a really striking statistic to me is if just one family in every three churches in America would become a foster family, we wouldn't have children waiting for homes. I can't wait to be a part of this system & do what I can to get children back to their homes safely.
