I want to become a foster parent but I'm on SSI will that affect me?
So are you suggesting I have my fiancee work extra hard for income? I have my income and he have his? So getting a two bedroom would be a good start, right? I can afford to have one child in my home. I don't live a life of drugs or crazy parties. I cannot have kids, but I want to help or have one. So, please again, I'm not in this for the money that is just a sick notion. It would be something I would enjoy doing and my heart is open to the idea of helping a child. I hope my point is made.
Why would anyone want to become a foster parent?
My brother and his wife foster. It can be hard and heart breaking. But the knowledge that they have been able to offer a child any amount of love and care for as long as they are privileged to do so makes it absolutely worthwhile.If they had stopped taking kids in after the first few heart crushing times - bio parents deciding to take the child back, or having to comfort the kids who went home only to end up back in the system weeks later - I wouldn't have two of my nieces.These two beautiful girls were able to be adopted by my brother. They now get to know the love and joy of a nurturing household. They get to experience family, real family - board games, lame by amazing vacations, sibling rivalry (with love), aunts and uncles, the works.Fostering may be hard and the system may not be perfect, but when it ends well, it's too awesome to pass up the chance.
What do I need to become a foster parent?
Assuming you live in the United States, there are laws which apply at a Federal, State, and Local level, but the situations vary so significantly from location to location that it is near impossible to give a blanket answer that goes into detail.Foster children are in the custody of DFCS, and ultimately they approve your household, OR a private agency will approve your household according to all of the applicable laws and the local DFCS policy. This is why agencies tend to be so localized. They are dealing with narrowly applicable policy that doesn't generalize to all places.For us, we went through an agency and we had to fill out a lot of paperwork, get a home study (approving the safety of the home and getting safety supplies and childproofing), then doing an intensive training session called IMPACT, which essentially is a thorough rundown of the rules, why kids come into care, important considerations to help care for the kids, and the way the system works. After that, we have 15 hours per year of continuing education.The best blanket advice I have for someone who is considering getting involved in foster care is to find lots of local foster parents and foster support groups and start talking to people. Did you use an agency? Who have you used? Where are the needs? Who should I talk to about this?
How difficult is it to become a foster parent?
It normally isn't very dificult. All you need to do is get fingerprinted to make sure the children aren't living with someone who has had convictions. Whomever is in your household would also need to be finger printed. A social worker needs to visit your home to ensure that the child would be in a safe enviornment and that you can provide a good clean place for them to live in. Some people are under the impression that you need to be well off to be a foster parent, but that's not the case. They usually look for people who will be able to give the child care and be attentive to their needs. You can request a certain age group, and I believe also nationalities as well. I'm not sure that they would allow a child with special needs to live with someone if that person did not have a little bit of training. By that I mean taking a few classes, which that government might be able to provide free of charge or at a low cost to you. And yes, there is an allowance that they give you every month for their living expenses. Every few months or so you also get a clothing allowance for the child. The allowance varies dependign on their age. Kudos to you for thinking about opening your home to foster children. Not many people are as givign and caring as needed to take care of someone besides themselves.
Can you become a foster parent if you are on methadone maintenance treatment?
As Elle says this is not a place that you can get an answer as it will vary from state to state and worker to worker.My recommendation is that you talk with either a private agency that licenses foster homes or with your state licensing office. Be prepared to demonstrate a substantial period of no ongoing problems with drugs and most likely you will need a letter from your counselor at the methadone clinic. Be prepared to have to have other evaluations as part of the process. What does your recovery look like? How do you maintain it on a mental and emotional level? How have you changed your thought pattern in recovery?The concern of course is that your are still “using drugs”. The trick is to demonstrate that you are stable and able to provide adequately for the chldren that could be in your care. How do you deal with stress? Yes, foster children can present a great deal of stress. What are your relationships like, especially with your partner? What does your support treatment look like? How about job stability? While you were actively using did you commit crimes? If so, what are they and have you completed all aspects of the criminal court requirements? Are any of the crimes disqualifying in your state?It is possible to get licensed with a great many negatives but you have to support where you are presently at and what you are doing, actively, to insure that any children placed in your home will be safe.Good luck and be prepared for a roller coaster ride.
What is it like to be a foster parent?
It is tremendously rewarding and at times tremendously challenging. I have been a foster parent since 1992 and at last count had just just over 80 kids live with me for anywhere from 2 days to 4 years. You learn to be flexible and patient and non-judgemental. You never know when you will get a phone call and 2 hours later have a new family member living with you. Everyone always says "Oh I couldn't give them up when they leave", and if you did the job right sometimes it is hard, because you should get attached to the kids and it is like your own child leaving and knowing that you may never see them again. To be honest though, there are children you have and it is a relief when they leave because you do get kids that have experienced significant trauma and have major emotional and behavior problems.I am becoming somewhat of an oddity in the foster care world, because I am NOT looking to adopt. My only goal is to provide a safe stable short term home for the kids I get, until they can get a permanent placement. You hope that the kids you have leave to go to a better situation than what they left to come into your home. It is scary how messed up a kid can get even at a very early age, but it is tremendously rewarding to see kids we had 15 to 20 years ago who have grown up into wonderful adults and feel that maybe you contributed to that success in some way.If you become a foster parent, you need to do it for the right reasons, which is primarily because you care about the children. If you do it right you are definitely not doing it for the tax free income. I foster for the state, so I may have some different perspectives than private agency foster parents, because I get the kids you see on television and the damage that has already been done to them and I get to deal with the government bureaucracy, all of which can be major challenges at times. Despite the heartache, frustration and physical demands of being a foster parent, I have never regretted doing it and the intangible rewards outweigh the cost every day.
Becoming a foster parent at a young age?
Ok, admittedly I didnt read all of the info you provided but I'll answer all I can. I been a oster mom since age 21/ In the state of KY you have to be at least 21, single, if married at least 2 years. we had just been marrried a little over two years when we started as well. You must own your own home. You dotn have to have a ton of money on the paycheck just proof that you pay your bills and have a little left over. Dont worry about health insurance we didnt have it at first either, eachc hild will have a medical card and if by chance the medical card isnt given to you in time { the child has to be seen by a dr. within 48 hours of being in your home} you will have to use the agency address on the papers and tellt hemt o send the bill there. We do that and the agency pays everything until the medical card comes. EVERY child will get medical card it is just how it works. You have to take them for eye exams and dental within two weeks of being in your home and then every year after. Eachc hild gets a monthly reimbursment , meaning you will get a check of anywhere from 500-800 you have to save reciepts proving to spend so much on the child each month, it hink its like 20 dollars to 50 dependingon their age. what you do with the rest is up to you. Also if you consider adopting out of foster care tell them during your training, forgot to mention, you need to take 12-24 hours of training and complete homestudy before you can become a foster parent. you will have to get fingerprints and bkgrd check also ...we got approved and certified toa dopt during ou training it makes it alot easier int he case you get a child in your home and the mother loses her rights, if your not approved they can take child and place with a readily adoptable approved foster parent. so go ahead and get certified if you feel it might be soemthign you'd want in the future