Life with a foster kiddo is not easy but it is fun. Many people think once they get the child they are on their own. This is not the case. There are so many people invested in the wellbeing of a foster child that you are far from alone. This is my experience. Once a month we have a team meeting with our social worker. In this team meeting is the CASA worker, the bio parents (if they show), the parent aid (who supervises visits with bio parents to keep child safe), myself and my husband. Our social worker is fantastic to do this. It gets the whole team together to talk about how the child was doing. How were the visits going. Our social worker does not pull any punches. When bio's were dropping the ball she let them know. They would get defensive and try to justify but she would have none of it! Most meetings I just sit there as I learn a lot by just listening! Once a week our little has counseling. I take her to a wonderful place where we do child/parent physco-therapy. It is a fancy name for child directed play. Every 3 months we have a court hearing. It is required for kids in care. Our judge changed a few times but all were wonderful. The judges mostly listened. They did not say much. They did ask me a few times how the child was doing and I was free to s peak. A lot of times it was the bio parents promising things they would never go through with. Once a mont I take my little one to the doctors. When she came into care she was just shy of 5 and weighed 22 pounds. As you know this is not even close to what a child her age should weigh. She is being watched closely for her growth and normal physical development. We rejoiced when she finally made it on the growth chart! I am happy to report she is doing wonderful and is growing and gaining weight! Once a month it is required for the CASA worker AND the social worker to lay eyes on the child. The CASA worker can see her anyplace. Many times ours would swing by her school to see her in action. The social worker needs to see the child in the home. Part of her job it to make sure we are providing a clean, stable home with all the needed amenities like heat and food! Once a month there is a support group that helps other foster folks to connect and chat. Ours meets over a meal that we have with the kids. Once the meal is over the kids are taken to a gym for a fun time of supervised recreation while we have a meeting. Along with the support group is an advocacy group. This is a group of foster folks working to change the laws and speak out for the kids in care. The support group and advocacy groups are not mandatory but they provide great insight and are great supports. Along with the groups is an entire network on facebook of foster folks to help. In our state we have a very active page. If I had a question I can post it and it will be answered within minutes from other foster folks who have been there. There is also a facebook group dedicated to swapping kid stuff. If you get a child overnight and need XYZ you put your post and the community rallies to help. In reverse if you have an item you no longer need you can post it for anyone who may need it. All free. I have used this resource and have also passed stuff on. My CASA worker and social worker are just a phone call away. I was blessed in the fact that my two have been fantastic. They have been there every step of the way. Now that we are moving towards adoption I am going to meet a whole new team. This is the adoption social worker and her crew. They will be there to provide us with information in regards to changing her name, birth certificates, post adoption support and such. My entire journey has been a positive experience. We did not go into it knowing the outcome but with each up and down we had support. With each court visit we had information. With each support group meeting we had answers. Being a foster parent can not be done in a vacuum. You will need support and connections to resources. You are not in this alone. You will become part of the foster tribe as it really does take a village!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
November 2017
Categories |