Becoming licensed for Foster Care is a detailed process. Please ask me anything you have a curiosity about.
Also, how the whole thing works, from "do you get paid?" to "are you taking Family Medical Leave" has a lot of people asking questions....if you have any for me, I'd love to try to answer them!
Leave your questions in the comment section or feel free to email me, spterrell at gmail dot com.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Welcome 2011,
It's great to meet you, I look forward to our adventures...
Seriously though- we ARE really looking forward to what this year has to bring. We anticipate a lot of new experiences...including fostering!, new projects, a vacation like Justin has never been on before, and maybe even a leap of faith career-wise.
Tomorrow, our final paperwork will be in the hands of our county licensing agent and we will be waiting on pins and needles to hear back from the state on if we have been approved for our license.
_____________________________________
I can't explain why we want to foster or why we aren't having biological kids right now. I probably won't ever be able to explain it with words to anyone outside of our marriage {outside of the family that we build.} We know in our hearts the why, but that doesn't translate into words.
We are as anxious for our first placement as many are for their first pregnancy. We're also just as scared and worried. I'm not excited that a child has to go through the experiences that will lead them into the foster care system, but I'm anxious to be the person there...on the other side of things- offering love, shelter, food, constant care and attention.
I am still working on my quilt. I don't think I ever clarified, but it's a small-ish quilt. One that I anticipate wrapping a little body in, one that I imagine will become a surface for a little body to lay or play on, and one that I hope will offer warmth and comfort for that little body as they sleep. It's amazing to be working on a project for a child that I haven't met- one that at this very moment, might be upset because of neglect or a pitiful family situation. Each square is like on small prayer for all the children who are upset, for the ones who may find themselves in our home and the ones who will find themselves in the homes of other families who are just like us...who can't explain the why, but know in their hearts that it's their responsibility to love a little body that needs love.
Seriously though- we ARE really looking forward to what this year has to bring. We anticipate a lot of new experiences...including fostering!, new projects, a vacation like Justin has never been on before, and maybe even a leap of faith career-wise.
Tomorrow, our final paperwork will be in the hands of our county licensing agent and we will be waiting on pins and needles to hear back from the state on if we have been approved for our license.
_____________________________________
I can't explain why we want to foster or why we aren't having biological kids right now. I probably won't ever be able to explain it with words to anyone outside of our marriage {outside of the family that we build.} We know in our hearts the why, but that doesn't translate into words.
We are as anxious for our first placement as many are for their first pregnancy. We're also just as scared and worried. I'm not excited that a child has to go through the experiences that will lead them into the foster care system, but I'm anxious to be the person there...on the other side of things- offering love, shelter, food, constant care and attention.
I am still working on my quilt. I don't think I ever clarified, but it's a small-ish quilt. One that I anticipate wrapping a little body in, one that I imagine will become a surface for a little body to lay or play on, and one that I hope will offer warmth and comfort for that little body as they sleep. It's amazing to be working on a project for a child that I haven't met- one that at this very moment, might be upset because of neglect or a pitiful family situation. Each square is like on small prayer for all the children who are upset, for the ones who may find themselves in our home and the ones who will find themselves in the homes of other families who are just like us...who can't explain the why, but know in their hearts that it's their responsibility to love a little body that needs love.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
A Christmas gift no one would expect...
My In-Laws gave us a fire escape ladder!
Not because we are fostering, but because of a tragic accident a few weeks ago in the area they live. We sleep on the second level of the house and should there be a fire, I imagine it could easily prevent us from using the stairs to get to the main level where our only exits are.
Ironically, our home fire inspection is tomorrow at 4pm and I think the Fire Marshall is going to be very pleased with the fact that we have an escape ladder!
I think I said a few weeks ago that I had printed our evac. plans...well, let's just say, I had good intentions to finish and print them. But today, I can honestly say that they ARE printed. See, those images prove that they're done. They've even been updated to include the new ladder.
How did I create our evac plans? Well, I have an unfair advantage. It's kind of what I do for my 9-5. I have access to software, editing, printing, etc.
If you don't have all that though, you can definitely hand draw the plan. I recommend using a large solid line for the exterior walls, with thin lines to represent interior walls. This helps make the plan easy to read. You can easily see the breaks in the thick black exterior wall line, making the exits stand out better. Red is obviously a good color choice for EXIT text and highlighting other areas that you have in your home, that might be established as "safe" or "go to" locations, can be helpful as well.
I didn't extend this to the exterior of the home, although...in future plans, I might. I think it would be great to establish a central gathering location outside. This way all individuals can be easily accounted for.
For us, this seemed like a silly exercise. We plan to foster babies/young toddlers. I don't imagine many of them will be reading evacuation plans. That said, our house is now much safer for not just ourselves, but overnight guests. And actually, how many of us take the time to draw an evacuation plan for our preschool aged children? Now, we won't have to worry in a few years!
Not because we are fostering, but because of a tragic accident a few weeks ago in the area they live. We sleep on the second level of the house and should there be a fire, I imagine it could easily prevent us from using the stairs to get to the main level where our only exits are.
Ironically, our home fire inspection is tomorrow at 4pm and I think the Fire Marshall is going to be very pleased with the fact that we have an escape ladder!
I think I said a few weeks ago that I had printed our evac. plans...well, let's just say, I had good intentions to finish and print them. But today, I can honestly say that they ARE printed. See, those images prove that they're done. They've even been updated to include the new ladder.
How did I create our evac plans? Well, I have an unfair advantage. It's kind of what I do for my 9-5. I have access to software, editing, printing, etc.
If you don't have all that though, you can definitely hand draw the plan. I recommend using a large solid line for the exterior walls, with thin lines to represent interior walls. This helps make the plan easy to read. You can easily see the breaks in the thick black exterior wall line, making the exits stand out better. Red is obviously a good color choice for EXIT text and highlighting other areas that you have in your home, that might be established as "safe" or "go to" locations, can be helpful as well.
I didn't extend this to the exterior of the home, although...in future plans, I might. I think it would be great to establish a central gathering location outside. This way all individuals can be easily accounted for.
For us, this seemed like a silly exercise. We plan to foster babies/young toddlers. I don't imagine many of them will be reading evacuation plans. That said, our house is now much safer for not just ourselves, but overnight guests. And actually, how many of us take the time to draw an evacuation plan for our preschool aged children? Now, we won't have to worry in a few years!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Results are in!
I don't have TB!
I was a little impatient this morning having to wait 20 minutes for a lady to take 10 seconds to look at my arm. I was the first person at the doctors office and the 3rd to be seen- really guys? Let's get organized, I was promised that I would get the official reading BEFORE 8:00am. When I have to come to the help window at 8:17am to ask what's going on, for you to only THEN try to find out, I am NOT in a good mood.
Anyway, in other news we have now both had physical's, I've completed the TB test and He's getting his this evening (for cheaper at the county health dept.), we've bought the correct ABC fire extinguisher and a new smoke detector to replace a missing one and this week I'll print out our evacuation plan and emergency phone number list then we only need to schedule the fire inspection and send in the paperwork.
We're getting there...
I was a little impatient this morning having to wait 20 minutes for a lady to take 10 seconds to look at my arm. I was the first person at the doctors office and the 3rd to be seen- really guys? Let's get organized, I was promised that I would get the official reading BEFORE 8:00am. When I have to come to the help window at 8:17am to ask what's going on, for you to only THEN try to find out, I am NOT in a good mood.
Anyway, in other news we have now both had physical's, I've completed the TB test and He's getting his this evening (for cheaper at the county health dept.), we've bought the correct ABC fire extinguisher and a new smoke detector to replace a missing one and this week I'll print out our evacuation plan and emergency phone number list then we only need to schedule the fire inspection and send in the paperwork.
We're getting there...
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
It's been a while...
...and it's been quiet all around.
Right now, we're getting our physicals, had to wait for the appointments. The husband's is today, one day after his 28th birthday! My appt. is Friday afternoon.
I did go to the county health dept. last Friday afternoon {Side note: When the economy went south my firm made a decision to cut everyone 10% time and salary which = 4 hour Friday's and to be honest, I kind of love it! Well, despite making less money in my paycheck.}in an attempt to get my TB test. Turns out, I would have had to go back on Monday before 4:30pm and to make a long story short, it wouldn't be possible for me to get back there. I'm a little bummed that I can't get the "inexpensive" TB test and will instead be paying a premium at the Dr.s office on Friday for it.
We're also waiting on the fire Marshall to call and schedule our home fire inspection, which reminds me, I need to finish the evacuation plan and pick up an "ABC" fire extinguisher. {Side note: We were told we had to have the extinguisher mounted and this worries me- it's not exactly going to go well with the decor and style in the house...I'm crossing my fingers that under cabinet mounting is allowed.}
I have started making a quilt, which I've never done before so Lord only knows what made me think now, of all times, was a good time to try it. But, I am. And with lots of help and advice, I'm off to a good start. There's just this whole holiday schedule thing getting in the way of making significant progress!
Right now, we're getting our physicals, had to wait for the appointments. The husband's is today, one day after his 28th birthday! My appt. is Friday afternoon.
I did go to the county health dept. last Friday afternoon {Side note: When the economy went south my firm made a decision to cut everyone 10% time and salary which = 4 hour Friday's and to be honest, I kind of love it! Well, despite making less money in my paycheck.}in an attempt to get my TB test. Turns out, I would have had to go back on Monday before 4:30pm and to make a long story short, it wouldn't be possible for me to get back there. I'm a little bummed that I can't get the "inexpensive" TB test and will instead be paying a premium at the Dr.s office on Friday for it.
We're also waiting on the fire Marshall to call and schedule our home fire inspection, which reminds me, I need to finish the evacuation plan and pick up an "ABC" fire extinguisher. {Side note: We were told we had to have the extinguisher mounted and this worries me- it's not exactly going to go well with the decor and style in the house...I'm crossing my fingers that under cabinet mounting is allowed.}
I have started making a quilt, which I've never done before so Lord only knows what made me think now, of all times, was a good time to try it. But, I am. And with lots of help and advice, I'm off to a good start. There's just this whole holiday schedule thing getting in the way of making significant progress!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
And finally, a rest from the cleaning!
So, I would love to say we didn't have to do a thing for our homestudy...but if I did, I would be lying.
Let's just say, my mother instilled a strong belief that your house must look picked up and cleaned whenever ANYONE came over, didn't matter who. You have clothes all over your floor and haven't vacuumed? Then I guess no friends will be coming over tonight. After spending half a day picking up my room...there was still always something that wasn't right. I've inherited this little trait. I don't know if it makes me proud or scared for my kid's future.
Anyway, the husband endured my wrath over the last 5 days and we both survived and now have a decently straightened and cleaned house. The best part...we can enjoy the holiday without thinking about cleaning!
This past Saturday we shampooed the carpets with a fancy rental cleaner and I think we both secretly enjoyed doing that. Sometimes cleaning isn't so bad...but, our dishwasher is broke so sometimes...IT'S HORRIBLE. Let's just say, neither of us care to do dishes.
Note to husband: Please work on dishwasher before first placement.
But, back to the story of getting ready for our homestudy. We swiffered pet hair, vacuumed and shampooed carpets, dusted, cleaned bathrooms with toothbrushes, still worked our 8 and 9 hours in full time jobs, finished laundry, swiffered pet hair again, mopped hardwoods, put away random items that were lying around, dishes, more dishes, made mashed potatoes for 30 people for office Thanksgiving pot luck (actually that wasn't for the homestudy but it meant we had to do more dishes...PLEASE FIX THE DISHWASHER SOON!)
And in between all that cleaning we talked about why we were doing this, what we hoped for and were scared of, and how our lives will change. Some of it my husband would've said was nagging because I really want him to talk in detail about his thoughts and feelings. He was unfortunately unavailable on Tuesday nights for our class and instead was given workbook packets to do...let's just say, he's yet to complete a full packet. But thankfully, he listens when I talk and he, to my surprise, absorbed almost all the details from my summaries of each class. So, I really just want to be sure he's as excited as I am to be doing this.
Let's just say, my mother instilled a strong belief that your house must look picked up and cleaned whenever ANYONE came over, didn't matter who. You have clothes all over your floor and haven't vacuumed? Then I guess no friends will be coming over tonight. After spending half a day picking up my room...there was still always something that wasn't right. I've inherited this little trait. I don't know if it makes me proud or scared for my kid's future.
Anyway, the husband endured my wrath over the last 5 days and we both survived and now have a decently straightened and cleaned house. The best part...we can enjoy the holiday without thinking about cleaning!
This past Saturday we shampooed the carpets with a fancy rental cleaner and I think we both secretly enjoyed doing that. Sometimes cleaning isn't so bad...but, our dishwasher is broke so sometimes...IT'S HORRIBLE. Let's just say, neither of us care to do dishes.
Note to husband: Please work on dishwasher before first placement.
But, back to the story of getting ready for our homestudy. We swiffered pet hair, vacuumed and shampooed carpets, dusted, cleaned bathrooms with toothbrushes, still worked our 8 and 9 hours in full time jobs, finished laundry, swiffered pet hair again, mopped hardwoods, put away random items that were lying around, dishes, more dishes, made mashed potatoes for 30 people for office Thanksgiving pot luck (actually that wasn't for the homestudy but it meant we had to do more dishes...PLEASE FIX THE DISHWASHER SOON!)
And in between all that cleaning we talked about why we were doing this, what we hoped for and were scared of, and how our lives will change. Some of it my husband would've said was nagging because I really want him to talk in detail about his thoughts and feelings. He was unfortunately unavailable on Tuesday nights for our class and instead was given workbook packets to do...let's just say, he's yet to complete a full packet. But thankfully, he listens when I talk and he, to my surprise, absorbed almost all the details from my summaries of each class. So, I really just want to be sure he's as excited as I am to be doing this.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I can not believe it!
Actually, I can...because time never seems to slow down and everything always comes and goes so quickly in life. It's not a shock to me anymore but it still makes me sad.
To close the door on this segment of the process is such a sweet sorrow. I have gained knowledge and shared laughs with our class...recently I've been saying that even if I never fostered, I'm 10x more prepared to parent now than I was before.
Tonight is our last class.
I will certainly miss this group, maybe not the late night meetings without food, but definitely what each meeting held- the education, the bond, and the joy. The joy of fostering is now on the horizon and that's the sweet part of all this. To think, by the end of the month, we will be waiting for a placement!
To close the door on this segment of the process is such a sweet sorrow. I have gained knowledge and shared laughs with our class...recently I've been saying that even if I never fostered, I'm 10x more prepared to parent now than I was before.
Tonight is our last class.
I will certainly miss this group, maybe not the late night meetings without food, but definitely what each meeting held- the education, the bond, and the joy. The joy of fostering is now on the horizon and that's the sweet part of all this. To think, by the end of the month, we will be waiting for a placement!
Monday, November 15, 2010
I've got a lot to learn!
It is really hard to buy anything right now - we don't know what age or sex our first child will be but I wanted to shop so bad for some inspiration! I ended up buying a few items that I thought were pretty flexible.
- The sippy cup is mostly for a toddler and because I wanted to be prepared in case a child came hungry/thirsty.
- The Owl toy is in honor of my favorite small business, Laughing Owl Press. www.laughingowlpress.com (you can buy on etsy www.etsy.com/shop/laughingowlpress)
- The blankets were just super cute and I needed some inspiration for color and design for the room.
- And last but not least, the towel was what I was in search of! I knew I wanted a hooded duck towel because what baby girl or boy wouldn't look cute wrapped up as a ducky. I almost returned it and I'll tell you why...
The towel said "full size" and it was all bundled up when I purchased it so I didn't think too much of it until I opened it...I expected this "FULL SIZE" towel(imagine the "full" size towel that I've been using for the past, oh I don't know, 20+ years) to cascade out so when the towel fell out and barely looked larger than a tea towel I immediately checked the package. Shoot, did I get the wrong thing. WHAT?! "Full Size" That's all there is to this towel?
I obviously have a lot to learn about the proportion of little ones!
...now I'm figuring I ought to apply this new lesson on proportion to everything!(Thank God I've gotten this lesson now, imagine how detrimental it could be if I stuck our child down in front of a dinner plate size proportion of chicken and potatoes and made them eat the whole thing?!)
- The sippy cup is mostly for a toddler and because I wanted to be prepared in case a child came hungry/thirsty.
- The Owl toy is in honor of my favorite small business, Laughing Owl Press. www.laughingowlpress.com (you can buy on etsy www.etsy.com/shop/laughingowlpress)
- The blankets were just super cute and I needed some inspiration for color and design for the room.
- And last but not least, the towel was what I was in search of! I knew I wanted a hooded duck towel because what baby girl or boy wouldn't look cute wrapped up as a ducky. I almost returned it and I'll tell you why...
The towel said "full size" and it was all bundled up when I purchased it so I didn't think too much of it until I opened it...I expected this "FULL SIZE" towel(imagine the "full" size towel that I've been using for the past, oh I don't know, 20+ years) to cascade out so when the towel fell out and barely looked larger than a tea towel I immediately checked the package. Shoot, did I get the wrong thing. WHAT?! "Full Size" That's all there is to this towel?
I obviously have a lot to learn about the proportion of little ones!
...now I'm figuring I ought to apply this new lesson on proportion to everything!(Thank God I've gotten this lesson now, imagine how detrimental it could be if I stuck our child down in front of a dinner plate size proportion of chicken and potatoes and made them eat the whole thing?!)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Panel Night
So, skipping a review of last weeks meeting (which I will eventually get back to) I can't wait to explain what panel night was like!
We hosted a panel of 7 people who are actively involved in the foster care system. First, a representative from the court spoke about the legal aspects and the decisions he has to make as a judge (like terminating parental rights). Then they went clockwise around the group- a foster parent of 0-5, a 17 year old child in foster care, her therapeutic foster mother, another foster mother, her adopted child, and a young lady who's mother fostered in their home during her college years.
Thankfully, for our benefit, the experiences were varied. It was inspiring because even given the varied experiences, the sentiment was the same across the board- You go into this for the children, but you end up feeling as blessed, rewarded, and loved by them as they do by you. Each of the three foster parents had a passion for it, you could sense it while they talked.
Each of them had placements that worked and some that didn't. But even given that, there was little negativity or hesitation about doing it. Each of them struggled at times with the birth parent connection because of how it related to the health and well-being of the child.
I got a good sense that the DSS offers more than adequate support and that they're as much cheerleaders for you as advocates for children.
I can honestly say that I can.not.wait. to do this. I have days of hesitation...but they don't relate to whether or not I have a passion for this, my hesitation is simply because we're planning to add children to our lives...and that's a HUGE step.
We hosted a panel of 7 people who are actively involved in the foster care system. First, a representative from the court spoke about the legal aspects and the decisions he has to make as a judge (like terminating parental rights). Then they went clockwise around the group- a foster parent of 0-5, a 17 year old child in foster care, her therapeutic foster mother, another foster mother, her adopted child, and a young lady who's mother fostered in their home during her college years.
Thankfully, for our benefit, the experiences were varied. It was inspiring because even given the varied experiences, the sentiment was the same across the board- You go into this for the children, but you end up feeling as blessed, rewarded, and loved by them as they do by you. Each of the three foster parents had a passion for it, you could sense it while they talked.
Each of them had placements that worked and some that didn't. But even given that, there was little negativity or hesitation about doing it. Each of them struggled at times with the birth parent connection because of how it related to the health and well-being of the child.
I got a good sense that the DSS offers more than adequate support and that they're as much cheerleaders for you as advocates for children.
I can honestly say that I can.not.wait. to do this. I have days of hesitation...but they don't relate to whether or not I have a passion for this, my hesitation is simply because we're planning to add children to our lives...and that's a HUGE step.
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