The Licensure Process - We're ALMOST There!

 

When we first started the process of becoming licensed foster parents, we had an advantage to knowing what to expect - I used to work for the foster care agency we are getting licensed through, and we have friends who went through the process a few months ahead of us. I think that there are many who don't know much about the process though, so let me educate you a bit on how it went for us! (Disclaimer: this post is long...sorry about that :).

1. You choose a foster care agency. In Franklin County, foster care has become privatized. This means that foster parents aren't trained and maintained by the county Department of Child & Family Services, but rather by private foster care agencies that the county contracts with. We chose to become licensed through The Bair Foundation, a Christian foster care agency.
2. We attended 30 hours of training through The Bair Foundation, which educated us on what to expect as foster parents - from statistics about children and families involved in foster care, to how to address certain behaviors, to how to help children attach to us when they come into our home. We completed this training in September, a few hours every night for 2 weeks. After these trainings we felt even more excited and prepared for kids!
3. We got our home ready! We had already been in the process of remodeling our home for months, so we finished up this process - new carpet and floors, new paint everywhere, reorganizing, and updating. We also prepared a room for the kids. Friends from church donated 2 twin beds for our foster care room (which we are super grateful for, thanks Roilands and Heffners!!) We also made it cozy with other accessories.
4. The home study process begins! "Home Study" is a really misleading term - it should have been called "Life Study!" We loved our assessor, but boy did she really get into the nitty gritty of our lives during this time! The home study consisted of 3 visits by an assessor to our home, each visit lasting between 2-3 hours. In addition to ensuring that our home itself is safe for kids, they also performed an extensive interview during this time. They asked Tony and I questions about every area of our lives - from how me met, to our relationships with family and friends, to how we make decisions, to whether or not we walk around the house naked! I totally appreciate how thorough they are though...this is how we ensure kids in foster care are placed with safe families. We also had to complete a mountain of paperwork - a financial statement & budget, written biographies for each of us, a characteristics checklist for children we would accept placement for, and proof of residency for the last 5 years, and more! We had to have a fire inspection during this time as well. This process took most of October, into early November.
5. At this point, the process changed for us in a way we didn't anticipate. We completed our CPR class on November 8th and expected to become licensed the following week. Our foster care agency approached us with a  question though - "Will you become a Treatment Foster Home rather than a Traditional Foster Home?" The difference between the two is that children with higher needs, either behavioral, medical, developmental, or emotional, are placed in Treatment Foster Homes. Because The Bair Foundation's motto is "we say yes when others say no," they strive to find homes for these "more difficult" children. We prayed and discussed this decision, as not only would this require us to take another 20 hours of training but it could also lead to even more stress and headaches as we parent our kids. We ultimately decided that Jesus goes out of his way to reach the forgotten, unlovable, and "difficult" - so we should to! After all, this is why we decided to become foster parents in the first place! So, we completed the extra 20 hours of training.
6. That leads us to today, November 25, 2014. I received word yesterday from our foster agency that they are reviewing our home study information today, and submitting it to the state to be approved! This should only take a couple of days, tops. As soon as we get approval from the state, we will officially be licensed foster parents! Wahoo!! Until then we pray, wait excitedly, and enjoy our time as a family of two. Will you commit to praying with us?!

Have you ever considered becoming a foster parent? The need is great! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!!

Help Wanted!

We are moving along in our process of becoming foster parents. After our CPR class this Saturday, the waiting game begins! One of the final things that we have been unable to check off our list is before and after school childcare. Our desire is to find a childcare provider that will love and invest in our children while we can't be with them, and is sensitive to the needs of foster children. It would be wonderful if this person lived in our neighborhood, as the elementary school is in the neighborhood too. We trust that our God is "able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine" (Eph. 3:20), so we are trusting Him to lead us to the right caregiver! 

Would you commit to praying about this need for us? Give us some ideas if you have them too! To give you some more specifics, here are the hours that we need help: For elementary age children placed in our care, this person would provide care from 7-9am before school...Tony and/or I are home every day by 3:30pm so we won't need after school care. For middle or high school age kids, we would need someone to provide care from 2:45-3:30pm. All foster children, even teenagers, have to be supervised at all times...they can earn unsupervised time after a month in care, so the care for teenagers could be temporary. 

Thank you for praying with us! I will post more updates as we have them :)