Darn Snow! We will spend the weekend preparing our hearts and home (and daughter) for this wonderful gift!
I am so grateful for your prayers and kind words. I feel like we are on the brink of another great big roller coaster. I am nervous and excited and ready to take a risk on love.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Baby Boy
Sweet Baby R. Our first foster care placement. A 2 month old little one. Details to follow after placement. He should be coming to our home within the next couple days (pending another snowstorm). Pray it holds off and we can get him tomorrow!!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Week 5
So I am belated in updating, but week 5 is off the list. This was about grief and the related stages (what you may see in a child or what you may go through after sending one home) and creating Lifebooks (a requirement and a very good thing). It was a pretty simple class - so not too much to discuss in a quick update.
CPR certification - I was there, with the instructor and another lady and no one came to open the facilities - so that is set back as well (bump #2).
All our certifications are here, so I hope to send those in this week. Then we have class #4 on 3/17 and hopefully CPR cert around the same time and officially we have jumped all the hoops. Hoping the big approval quickly follows!
CPR certification - I was there, with the instructor and another lady and no one came to open the facilities - so that is set back as well (bump #2).
All our certifications are here, so I hope to send those in this week. Then we have class #4 on 3/17 and hopefully CPR cert around the same time and officially we have jumped all the hoops. Hoping the big approval quickly follows!
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Week 4 canceled
We are expecting another 12-20" of snow to fall on top of our (melted down to) 12" still on the ground starting tonight. As a result, our class tomorrow night is canceled. Unfortunately, this means we have to wait until "week 4" comes up again in rotation...5 weeks from now. :( I have not yet confirmed with our social worker if our approval will be delayed as a result. I am bummed, but everything is a roller coaster and this is really only our first bump so far.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Training Week 3
Our home visits and home study interviews are done; We are awaiting our clearances to arrive in the mail; Elisabeth is scheduled for the required infant CPR class (Paul will attend as soon as his schedule allows); And we only have two more weeks of training to go.
The classes this week dealt with topics such as aggravated circumstances, search for kinship and the phases of foster care and court hearings.
The aggravated circumstances raised my blood pressure a bit....There was discussion like "if the parent has previously murdered their child, and then has another child, that child may go straight to foster care." It also involved "if the parent(s) are in jail, or have disappeared and left the child with a friend who has no ability to care for that child..." The reflection of the scenarios of from which these children may come is the cold harsh reality of our world.
Our county has established a specific department related to searching for kinship. Much of this discussion revolved around older children who have been in foster care virtually their whole life and then "age out of the system." The county is required to search to what is the equivalent of a 3rd cousin to attempt to find homes for kids. Basically the goals of foster care are 1. reunification, 2. adoption, 3/4/5. various forms of guardianship for the child. If they never find someone to do this and a child "age's out" - most of these teens end up homeless with no where to go, no family, no home for the holidays. :-( Again, harsh reality.
The court part was probably the most light-hearted part of the night. We discussed all the players, explored the court rooms, talked about the phases of hearings and when they happen in the process. From the time a child is taken into custody, the goal is 15 months to decide if reunification is possible. If not, goals shift to adoption until termination (voluntary or involuntary) of rights occur. The good news about this, there is a time line. The bad news, I am sure it is still quite a long wait to see how things play out. This is what we are signing up for...the good the bad and the ugly. Somehow, I am certain there will be some wonderful mixed in with all the pain and tears.
The classes this week dealt with topics such as aggravated circumstances, search for kinship and the phases of foster care and court hearings.
The aggravated circumstances raised my blood pressure a bit....There was discussion like "if the parent has previously murdered their child, and then has another child, that child may go straight to foster care." It also involved "if the parent(s) are in jail, or have disappeared and left the child with a friend who has no ability to care for that child..." The reflection of the scenarios of from which these children may come is the cold harsh reality of our world.
Our county has established a specific department related to searching for kinship. Much of this discussion revolved around older children who have been in foster care virtually their whole life and then "age out of the system." The county is required to search to what is the equivalent of a 3rd cousin to attempt to find homes for kids. Basically the goals of foster care are 1. reunification, 2. adoption, 3/4/5. various forms of guardianship for the child. If they never find someone to do this and a child "age's out" - most of these teens end up homeless with no where to go, no family, no home for the holidays. :-( Again, harsh reality.
The court part was probably the most light-hearted part of the night. We discussed all the players, explored the court rooms, talked about the phases of hearings and when they happen in the process. From the time a child is taken into custody, the goal is 15 months to decide if reunification is possible. If not, goals shift to adoption until termination (voluntary or involuntary) of rights occur. The good news about this, there is a time line. The bad news, I am sure it is still quite a long wait to see how things play out. This is what we are signing up for...the good the bad and the ugly. Somehow, I am certain there will be some wonderful mixed in with all the pain and tears.
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