Have finally started the first steps to be able to foster

[butlerfan]

Had our initial meeting for foster care last night....

So foster care meeting went well. We have a ton of homework to do before the next meeting at the end of the month-watch some more videos for training, fill out the application, background check, fill out references, get fingerprinted, etc.

I'm nervous on getting approved based on my ex-boss accusing me of stealing and I'm in a deferment agreement until the end of this year (it's all B.S. but was a lot of he said, she said, and this was the easiest way to be able to have the "right" outcome without risking a jury finding me guilty because he is a businessman and why would he lie, etc).

And I need to e-mail them about the fact that we want to move before we foster so hoping to move this summer-how much will this slow down the process? With our in-laws being so not helpful in the situation we have no choice but to move because they refuse to move their shit.

ETA:  thoughts about how to approve either of the above issues?

[daystardreams]

Congrats on moving forward! I'm not a lot of help because I got thrown back to just waiting because I've let my sister and niece move in with us so we can't move forward until she's back on her feet. However, I did call my county last summer and then I ended up moving in the fall. I moved into a different school district but same county. I mentioned that in my follow up call and she said it wouldn't matter at all since they hadn't started the home study yet. I would assume that you won't be able to do most (maybe just some) of the home study until you have moved. Although I'm sure there are parts that you can do before the move. Good luck!

[butlerfan]

Thanks daystardreams!

[ceejay]

I'm glad the meeting went well!

What is the overall process with your agency? I know for us there was a lot of paperwork that we could fill out ahead of time before the actual home study started... things that weren't tied to our physical residence like references, fingerprinting, biography questionnaires, etc. But once the home visits begin, you will need to be in the residence you will be living in when kids are placed with you. Because your foster care license is specific for your residence. So you should be able to get a lot of things done now, but then you might have to wait until you are in your new home to complete the home study. Also, I don't know what type of training is required in your state but in IL we had to do 27 hours of PRIDE training. And that could have been completed before starting the home study.

As for your other concern, I'm not sure how much that would affect your approval for licensing. Have you been assigned a caseworker yet or a contact person at the agency? You might want to ask them about your particular situation. After the deferment agreement ends, does the case "disappear"? I'm really not familiar with what legal issues would delay or defer foster care licensing so I'm sorry I can't be of more help there. I'm sorry you're in that situation, and I hope it doesn't cause any delays for you guys.

[butlerfan]

I will be e-mailing our contact person for sure on all of the above.

Our next meeting is the end of the month and they want the packet turned in by then-which has information on our house (do we rent or own?, what size rooms, city water or well water, so on and so forth). If we are going to be moving and want to hold off on the home study I'm not sure if that is relevant so I think I'm going to ask how this is all going to work.

Also, it sounds like some of the training (foundations which is about 30 hours I believe) is done after licensing but we can start the trauma training that goes for 8 weeks (20 hours) while they do all the background checks, interviews and home study.

[Rogue]

butlerfan, it sounds like the forms they want you to fill out are more questionnaire type forms than an actual application. We filled these out so that in class we could talk about room sizes for the kid and what furniture they needed and what's not.

I would make note of what you have now but make note that you will be moving over the summer. After our first few training sessions we were assigned a case worker who started the home study. There are a lot of one on one interviews and questions for everyone living in the house, so I imagine you could do that then just do the home tour after you move.

I think as long as you're honest about your legal stuff they will be able to make the call fairly early on if you should proceed or wait.