Insta-Family

Sam and I are really excited to announce we are going to be foster parents!

What was that?  We're crazy for being adoptive AND foster parents all at once? 

Well.....  :)  I guess I can't deny that...

We just really want to help...and one huge area of need is for more foster homes.  There aren't enough foster homes for all the kids coming into foster care.

• Siblings are being split up and placed in homes far apart from each other.
• Children are being placed hours away from their parents because there aren't any homes in their area.  This is extremely difficult for the children.  They have to leave not only their homes, but also everything they knew - their school, their friends, their classmates, their schedules, their community, their parents.
• Foster families are at their brim and don't have room for any more kids, and yet kids keep coming into care, needing a home to feel safe and secure in while this nightmare of being separated from their parents (no matter how unsafe the situation at home was) is over.  
• There are children who need homes everywhere.
• Foster parents get overwhelmed - Parenting someone else's child you've never met before can be very challenging.  And there often isn't a break for foster families.  

This last one is what triggered our interest in fostering.  There is something called Respite care that is necessary for foster families, and is the only way they can have a short break, so to speak.  Anytime a child in foster care needs to go somewhere away from their foster home overnight, they have to go to a licensed foster home.  They can't just go to Foster Grandma's like the rest of the grandkids if the parents are out of town for the weekend, or taking a night for themselves.  And if all foster homes are full, where are the kids supposed to go?  Often foster parents have to cancel their plans, or take the foster children along.  Sometimes this is possible, sometimes it isn't.

So to start off with, we are going to do Respite Only foster care.  All our placements will be short term, and for another foster family (or a short term placement while another foster home is found).  It will be for things like "just a break", a planned weekend respite stay, a week long stay for a family vacation not all the kids can go to, or a longer stay if there's a circumstance the foster family needs someone for (i.e.a family illness or something like that) but can resume parenting at some point.

Once our kids are home, settled, adjusted, and ready for some changes, we will likely do full foster care.  I have a feeling we will be called for an actual placement before we travel to go get them, because like I said earlier, there are just no open foster homes and they have to have somewhere to put the kids...but for now, that's our plan.  And if we do get a placement before we travel, it will be with the understanding that once we get that call, we gotta go, so the kids will have to transition to a new foster home, sadly.

We have completed the 10 week foster care classes, and are awaiting our license.  Hopefully that will come soon - I bet summer will be a busy time for families!  We are excited, and have spent the last couple of months preparing our house for additional kids.  We have two bunk beds set up, and are getting the basement converted to a play area/rec room.  Chemicals and meds are locked up, radon is fixed, and we are gathering clothing donations to have a stock of all sizes for when kids come and need additional clothes.  I'm working on organizing our front entry closet to accommodate a busy schedule and an organized (as organized as possible) drop place for kids belongings, and we are converting our laundry closet to be bigger and ready for more laundry.  I've gotta start working on my meal planning - working full time, and having a family to run smoothly will be a big chore.  But I'm glad we're getting some practice in increments before our kids get here!  Phew!  I agree, we are a bit crazy :)