Foster2Forever

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What are Legal Risk Placements in Foster Care?

Our home is a dual-licensed foster home meaning that we are licensed for both foster care and adoption; however, we are currently only open for legal risk placements.  This week, our foster home worker sent us these FAQs on legal risk placements. Does this answer your questions or create more?

legal-risk-placements-in-foster-care

LEGAL RISK PLACEMENTS

Some Questions and Answers

A child is placed in an adoptive home when all rights of birth parents have been terminated.  There are times when this cannot happen because of legal complications involving the termination. When this happens we may consider an adoptive placement with potential adoptive parents who are willing to take the risk that parental rights may not be terminated or who are willing to wait for this to happen no matter how long it takes.

1. What is a legal risk placement?

A legal risk placement is the placement of a child(ren) into an adoptive home prior to a final order terminating parental rights.  OR, if termination of parental rights has taken place, and the biological parents have appealed the termination to an appeals court.

 

2. Why does the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services utilize “legal risk” placements?

Have you seen this movie “Losing Isaiah”?

This is a good question because some would suggest that no child be placed for adoption until all potential legal obstacles have been cleared.  TDPRS chooses to go ahead with a legal risk placement when the agency is reasonably confident that termination will occur.  It has been our experience that the wait for all court action to be finalized has created devastating consequences to the children in our Conservatorship.  In order to minimize the period of uncertainty in the child/ren’s life, TDPRS may proceed with a legal risk placement.  The Department will do all it can to expedite (or, speed up) the legal process and to reduce the risks of the adoptive placement being overturned.  Nevertheless, there can be no guarantees.  The Department recognizes that, if something goes wrong, then the family and child may face heartbreak and emotional trauma.  The Department is very cautious about utilizing legal risk placement prior to termination of parental rights.  Therefore, the Department will not consider making a legal risk placement unless it believes it has a good, solid care for termination.

Legal risk placements usually occur when a child needs to be moved from a foster home near the time the parental rights are to be terminated.  This move will only be made if it is our assessment that the child is ready to start bonding with the potential adoptive family.

 

3.  What requirements must a family meet in order to be considered for a legal risk placement?

A family must be licensed as foster parents until termination of parental rights occurs and must follow all rules and regulations that apply to foster parents.  The prospective adoptive family will need to be trained in CPR and First Aid prior to being licensed as foster parents.

The prospective adoptive family will have foster home worker who will visit the family once every two months and it will be important for the family to attend the six month review hearing (Chapter 18 Court Hearings) and the Permanency Planning Team meetings that affect the child placed in their home.

 

4.  Should an attorney be consulted prior to entering into a legal risk placement?

The Department strongly recommends that a family consult an Attorney regarding legal risk placements.  By consulting an attorney, the family will be able to obtain an assessment of the risks from a neutral source.

 

5.  When are legal risk placements made?

A placement is considered to be a legal risk when:

A.   parental rights have not been terminated;

B.   a parent has appealed the judgment terminating parental rights;

C.   a parent has taken action indicating that a termination judgment likely will be appealed.

 

6.  What risks must a prospective adoptive family consider?

The greatest risk is that a prospective adoptive family will have to give up a child. There are other factors a prospective adoptive family must consider.  For example, the family might have to provide continuing visits between the child and birth parents until termination takes place.  In addition, the prospective adoptive family will not be able to tell the child that they are their adoptive family until parental rights have been terminated.

Finally, the prospective adoptive family must recognize that the legal system can operate at a slow, unpredictable rate.  The termination hearing may be set and postponed time and time again.

 

7.  How long will the process take?

Because every case is different, this is an impossible question to answer.  Because of the legal process it sometimes takes six months or longer for parental rights to be terminated. After the termination hearing has been held, a court order must be drafted.  This order then must be approved by all parties and signed by the judge.  An estimate of the time involved in the process is 30 days, although it can take much longer. A biological parent has 30 days to appeal after the judge has signed the termination order and relatives specified in the law have 90 days to file intervention of interest for placement or contact.

 

8.  When does a legal risk placement become an adoptive placement?

The placement can change form legal risk foster placement to an adoptive placement 30 days after the judge has signed the termination order. The child may take the last name of the adoptive family at this time.

 

9.  What happens if a termination order is appealed?

Thirty days after the termination order has been signed, the status of the family changes from foster care to adoption.  Should the birth parents appeal the termination, they obtain an attorney who may challenge the termination order.  This appeal goes to an appellate court which can take six months to two years to hear the case.  If the termination order is overturned, the case will again go to trial.

 

10. Will the Department appeal when the children are ordered to be returned to their biological parents?

There is only a very slight possibility the Department may pursue an appeal.  The vast majority of trial court decisions are upheld.

 

Types of Legal Risks Placements:

1. Termination has occurred but birth parent is appealing (Regular adoptive placement);

2. No termination but the Department is reasonably confident termination will occur- Mainly uncontested terminations.  (Adoptive parents must be licensed as a foster home and cannot tell the child they are the potential adoptive family).

 

Legal Risk Placements Occur When:

1.  Parental rights are not terminated or Parental rights have been terminated and are under appeal;

2.  If no Termination, the termination of parental rights is likely to occur;

3.  A child needs to be moved from their foster home very near the time parental rights are to be terminated;

4.  The placements in an adoptive home can save the child extra move into another foster home;

5.  The child is ready to start bonding to their potential adoptive family;

 

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services will place children or families in legal risk situations only if:

A.  It is the best interest of the child;

B.  There is a high degree of probability that parental rights will be terminated; or

C.  Details have been discussed with the family.

 

Before a Legal Risk Placement can occur:

1.  A prospective family must be identified and they must be licensed as a foster family;

2.  The family must read the child’s Health, Social, Educational, Genetic and History Report before they meet the child;

3.  The family must read the child’s de-identified case record;

4.  The family must read and sign the Legal Risk Placement agreement with the Department.

 

OTHER OPTIONS:

Dual-Licensed Home: A Dual-Licensed family is a family who is licensed as both a foster family and an adoptive family. They will take both foster care placements and adoptive placements.  A child would be placed in the home as foster care placement.  If the child becomes legally free, the family has the option to adopt that particular child.   The family will also be considered for adoptive placement of other children who are not in their home.

Dual-Licensed families differ from Legal Risk families in the intent of the placement.  Legal Risk families are adoptive families who are licensed as foster families in order to take a legal risk placement.  The intent of the placement is adoption.  Dual-Licensed families are both adoptive and a foster family.  The adoptive placements are true adoptive placements.  The foster care adoptive placements are with the intent that the agency is working to return the child to the parent or relative.  It is true foster care placement.

 

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Our Foster Baby Talks!

Early Childhood Intervention

We have been concerned about our little foster boy. At 18-months-old, our Lil Bit just wasn’t talking.  He would babble, but would say very few words and rarely call for mama or dada. (At 18 months, Lil Bit should have been saying 8-10 words)

In March, Lil Bit was evaluated by Early Childhood Intervention and was markedly behind in communication. An Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) was developed to assist us in helping Lil Bit catch up, with an emphasis on speech therapy.

Since then, Lil Bit has had speech therapy twice a month.  Many times, the speech therapist was teaching us techniques to encourage him to talk:

  • Encourage him to say a word when he wants something, such as juice, ball, mama, please, etc.
  • Give him a choice of 2 toys with which to play. “Car or train?” And wait for him to say a word.
  • Praise him enthusiastically when he does say a word, even if it’s not pronounced correctly.

After a few months of speech therapy and working with him, Lil Bit decided to talk! He just started talking. And it’s so stinking cute!!!

  • “Peas!” with his hand on his chest. For Please.
  • “Choo-Choo!” when he sees a train.
  • “Eyeyuyoo!” after I say, “I love you.” Then he gets a big raspberry on his belly. Lots of giggles.
  • “Tee-ta” for his brother’s name. That’s funny.

When I sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, Lil Bit will chime in on “star”, “are”, “high”, “sky”!  And he has musical talent just like the rest of us in the family. Ouch!

He says “Amen” when we sing “If You’re Happy and You Know It”

And he tries so hard to sing along with “Hey, It’s Franklin”  when the PBS show begins. All that comes out is “spend” & “you” but not pronounced, more like “eeennn” & “oooooo”.

I’m having such a fun time enjoying him!!! These are very proud mommy moments!

What have been your favorite words or phrases your child has said while learning to talk???

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Water Safety as a Licensed Foster Home

This has been the hottest summer that I can remember!  Here in Texas, we have had 100+ temperatures for over 40 days!!!  40 days!!!pool-rules-regulations-foster-care

Tomorrow, the forecast is for 110 degrees!!!  110 degrees!!! It is impossible to stay cool if you are outside in this heat. We had purchased a blow-up wading pool for the kids (and us) for some family water fun; however….

We received an email from our foster home worker to “gently” remind us of the requirements for above ground pools as a licensed foster home:

If this summer heat is making you want to go out and buy an above ground pool, please remember to inform me before you fill it with water, so I can make a home visit to ensure all requirements have been met. Above ground pools need to comply with Minimum Standards and Policy, which are:

7251 Water Safety CPS April 2002

When a foster and/or adoptive parent family home is verified or approved, CPS staff must ensure that the home is in compliance with the following water safety requirements:

1.   Children under age five or children with physical or cognitive impairments must be supervised at all times in a bathtub;
2.   Adults or persons certified in water safety must supervise children around any large bodies of water at all times. This includes swimming and wading pools, hot tubs, stock ponds, creeks, rivers, lakes, oceans, or bays;
3.   Foster and/or adoptive parents who have a pool or body of water on their property must successfully complete a water safety course;
4.   Life jackets must be worn by all children and youth who engage in boating activities and by children who are in more than two feet of water and do not know how to swim;
5.   Hot tubs must be securely covered when not being used;
6.   Swimming pools must have physical barriers designed to limit access. Barriers include fences or walls, and pool safety covers.
·  Fences and walls around pools must be at least four feet high and well-constructed (the Red Cross recommends vertical fencing, and openings in the fence should be no more than four inches wide); these barriers must be installed completely around the pool.
·  Fence gates must be self-closing, self-latching, and locked when the pool is not in use.
·  If the house forms one side of the barrier for the pool, then doors leading from the house to the pool must be protected with alarms that produce an audible sound when a door is opened.
·  Applicable doors and windows must also have a lock installed that cannot be unlocked by a child under the age of five without assistance.
·  A child safety pool cover that can be placed over the water area may be used as an alternative barrier for fences or walls. However, pool covers are only required when there is no fence or wall surrounding the pool. Pool covers must be completely removed prior to pool use;
7.   Exterior ladders (not in-pool ladders) on above-ground pools must be removed and gates secured and locked when the pool is not in use;
8.   Furniture or large materials must never be left near the pool’s fence so children may not use them to scale the fence;
9.   Toys must be kept away from a pool that is not in use (toys can attract young children into the pool);
10. A telephone and basic lifesaving equipment must always be kept by the pool (for example, a pole, rope, and personal floatation devices);
11. Foster family group homes must comply with additional standards developed by DFPS’s Licensing Division (see the Minimum Standards for Child-Placing Agencies, Appendix G, Foster Group Homes, Standards G-3100.3 and G‑3100.4); and
12. Foster and/or adoptive homes must also comply with all local and county ordinances.

Needless to say, we didn’t fill it.

What are the standards for water safety in your state?

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Guest Post: Love You Like Crazy

Today’s guest is Rebecca Hawkes, an adoptive mom that was also adopted…

I knew she was mine — or perhaps it is more accurate to say that I knew I was hers — the moment I saw her profile on the Massachusetts Adoption Research Exchange’s website. My husband and I were in the early stages of our adoption journey, still doing general research, when we “found” our daughter Ashley, who was at that time seven years old. From that moment forward the focus of our adoption process was entirely on this one child. I printed out her profile that day and the next day I called the Department of Children and Families to schedule the inspection of our home. Two weeks later we began the class that is required in our state for all who are interested in adopting through foster care.

I could give you a list of particular things that made us believe that she would be a good match for us and vice versa, but it wasn’t really about any of those specific things. Rather, it was an emotional decision, a connection, a call.

What do you do when you are convinced that you are meant to be someone’s parent, but the rest of the world doesn’t know it yet? How do you walk through the long bureaucratic slog of the foster-to-adopt process, waiting for the system catch up with your heart and without any guarantee that it will?
It isn’t easy, believe me.

The day I first met Ashley in person was one of the most memorable bizarre days of my life. There I was feeling like her mother, all of my mother-bear instincts fully triggered, but she didn’t know it, nor did anyone else. Officially, I was nobody to her — just one of many prospective adoptive parents at a public event attended by foster children with goals of adoption. Our adoption home-study wasn’t even yet approved. But when other adults would come up to her to interact, it took great effort on my part not to place myself between her and them and say, in a not so friendly tone, “Stay away! She’s mine! Can’t you see that?!”

Even then, I knew this was a little nuts. As one part of me was experiencing an irrational possessiveness, another part of me was saying “Whoa there, Rebecca, get a grip.” In fact, I spent a lot of time in those uncertain months before Ashley moved in with us trying to get a grip, trying to talk myself back from the edge to a more logical (and less risky) position.

But eventually, I gave up. I decided that if I was going to do this, I might as well go all out from square one. After all, didn’t this kid deserve to be loved like crazy? Don’t we all? In life, there is always risk; there is risk in loving, and there is risk in holding back. The process of adopting from foster care is not an easy one, and neither, for that matter, is parenting, day to day. It helps to be a bit crazy-in-love right from the start.

Rebecca Hawkes writes about her experiences as both an adoptive mother and a reunited adult adoptee at Love is Not Pie.  She is also a founder of Ashley’s Moms, a fledgling organization focused on helping families create thriving open-adoptions that support all involved, especially the child.

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Our Foster Home Is Now Under Investigation!!!

If you don’t know already, on the Fourth of July, our 22-month-old foster boy, Lil Bit, fell off the sofa and after an afternoon at the hospital, we discovered he had fractured his elbow.

As a licensed foster home, we reported this injury of our foster child, both verbally and by completing an injury report.  We went through the arduous process of getting him medical care from an orthopedic specialist through Medicaid.

The weekend after this unplanned, busy week was one for our family to relax! Sunday after church, we were all lounging around VERY comfortably.

3:00 p.m. – DING! DONG!

Our 4-year-old, JD, runs to door to answer. ‘Wait!” I exclaimed. FosterDad, comfortable in his boxers, tries to hand the baby to me to make his quick exit out of the living room. I’m handing the baby back.  He’s handing the baby back to me again.  Then I had to grunt, “I don’t have a bra on!“ All while JD is answering the door.

The man at the door was wearing a badge: Texas Department of Children Protective Services from Austin.

“Oh, you’re hear to check on our foster baby.”

“Yes, ma’am.  Is there a room where I can set up my laptop for the interview? I will be interviewing each of you separately.”

“Yes, right this way. Here is the spare bedroom.”

The investigator interviewed FosterDad first. A one-hour interrogation interview.

Then it was my turn for the inquisition interview.  “I will need to record this interview. Do you have an issue with that?”

“No, sir.”

For a State agency, the laptop was very high-tech with a recording program, rotating monitor, and a program and stylus to record signatures onto documents.

I won’t go into too many of the questions, but it was very intense with every little detail being questioned.  “Where were you sitting? What were the others doing? Which way were they facing? What were you reading?”

I felt as if early-onset Alzheimer’s had gotten me at the tender-young age of 46!

After my one-hour ordeal. The investigator asked if JD would talk to him. “You can see.” He questioned JD alone for a few minutes before he closed up shop to leave.

5:50 p.m. Not the relaxing weekend we had planned.

The experience was nerve-racking, not because there was anything wrong, but just because of FEAR.

  • FEAR in knowing that children have been removed from families for less than a broken bone.
  • FEAR that there was a very small possibility that our baby could be removed just a few months before adoption.

Now we are simply waiting for the final report. Our caseworker has indicated that there is no issue, but until then we have to put our faith into this verse:

Fear-not-Isaiah-Bible

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5 Tips to Scheduling Foster Care Appointments – Part 2

Last Monday, Tammy from I Must Be Trippin’ shared with us the crazy-busy schedule of foster care appointments as a single working foster mom.   Caseworkers, counselors, therapists, doctors, dentists, family visits, court appearances…  It made my head spin!  How in the world does she do foster care by herself???

5 Tips to Schedule Foster Care Appointments

  • Plan one workday each month to take off – I let all of the “regular” monthly visitors know about 2-3 weeks ahead of time when that will be and they know they will have to come on that day if they want to come during the day. Otherwise, they will have to come after I get off work or on a weekend. I have to say, they are usually pretty quick to jump on scheduling something for the day that I choose when they hear that I’m not taking off work any other day. 🙂
  • Have “regular” monthly visitors do their visits at the same time – It’s definitely easier on me and the kids, and it’s really helpful having the adults involved in the case together in order to be certain that everyone is on the same page. Because there are so many people involved in these cases, lack of communication tends to be a HUGE problem. Getting several of the key players together at one time has been very helpful for all of us.
  • Schedule outside appointments on my one day off a month – (ex. dentist, physicals, etc.)  It’s usually an insanely busy day, but if I can get the majority of the month’s appointments done in one day, it leaves the rest of the month for the kids just to be kids.
  • Request any therapy sessions, monthly visits, etc. be done at the children’s schools or daycares – I found out nine months into a placement that the caseworker didn’t have to come to the house every month. She mentioned offhandedly that she could occasionally see the baby at his daycare and do my interview over the phone. I also found out that there are some therapists who will travel to the children’s schools for their weekly sessions. No one had ever mentioned these things to me, so now I always ask.
  • Have a super-cool, mega-sized day planner – I like this goal-planning weekly/monthly schedule planner that never leaves my side when I have a placement. I use it to keep track of everyone’s schedules as well as to jot down notes about visitations, milestones, behavioral problems, giving medications, etc. It comes in incredibly handy when I complete my monthly progress reports and med logs for the kids. Keeping it with me has also helped when I get the inevitable phone calls asking, “When did so-and-so last go to the dentist?” or “How many visits have the kids had with their parents now?” It’s a great way to keep track of schedules as well as doubles as a diary of sorts. Believe me, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go back and reference notes and other pertinent information in mine. Having everything in one location is a huge help when it comes to the paperwork. I’ve also been told that it makes me “the best foster parent ever” by my agency and a few caseworkers. (Note to you caseworkers out there… It never hurts to butter up your foster parents by telling them how awesome they are. 🙂

I hope I haven’t scared away any potential foster parents with this rundown of the madness that is life in foster care. I always think that it helps to know what you’re getting into. I know it would have helped me that first day when I was trying to comfort a baby in a body cast while being bombarded by phone calls from people wanting to know when it was a “convenient” time for them come to my house.

Just remember that you don’t always have to jump to do their bidding. You are the one parenting these kids who need someone to stand up for them. A caseworker wants to schedule a home visit the afternoon after your baby gets his 6-month shots? You can say “no.” I didn’t realize that when I first started out. I have learned, and now I pass on my wisdom to you, Young Jedi… 😉

Feel free to follow my foster/adopt journey at “I Must Be Trippin’,” and join us every other week for “Foster Friday” when our panel of foster/adopt moms and family members discuss various topics related to this crazy and wonderful world we have chosen to live in known as Foster/Adopt Land.

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Our Foster Baby Broke His Arm!!!

foster-child-injury

Foster child playing with a cast

If you follow Foster2Forever on Facebook or Twitter, you know that our Independence Day began with our 22-month-old foster boy, Lil Bit, falling off the sofa.

It was a short fall. A freak accident. However, when he stood up, Lil Bit was holding his right wrist.  FosterDad is a former P.E. teacher and knew something wasn’t right by the way he was holding it.

We were visiting family in East Texas, so we took a trip to the local hospital emergency room.  The x-ray confirmed our fear.  Our baby boy had a fractured elbow.  It was not his wrist, as we first suspected.

However, due to the location of the fracture, the E.R. physician was concerned about it affecting Lil Bit’s arm movement.  She requested that we take Lil Bit to an orthopedic specialist in the next few days. Her concern was that he might have to undergo surgery and physical therapy to prevent problems with mobility.

We arrived home late Monday night and Tuesday morning began all the follow-up to:

  • Report the incident to our foster home case worker, Lil Bit’s caseworker, and a quick FYI to our attorney;
  • Complete a report for “Serious Injury of a Foster Child” to turn into both caseworkers;
  • Call the Medicaid insurance provider (StarHealth) to get a list of orthopedic specialists;
  • Call the list of specialists and learn than none take Medicaid;
  • Make an appointment for out-of-town orthopedic specialist;
  • Visit Primary Care Physician for a referral to the orthopedic specialist;
  • Visit orthopedic specialist!!!

The visit to the orthopedic doctor went better than expected! Another x-ray showed that the bone is healing well and surgery will not be necessary.  A hard cast was put on Lil Bit’s arm, and he returns in 3 weeks to see how it is healing.

For Lil Bit, the broken arm has been more of a nuisance to him than anything. He gets frustrated that now he can’t climb on the couch or sleep tucked on his tummy.  He is eating well with his left hand.  He now has to drink out of a sippy cup with handles.

However, for us, as foster parents, we are not out of the woods. As we are in the final stages of Lil Bit’s adoption, the State is now conducting their followup investigation into the injury.

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The Never-Ending Foster Care Appointments – Part One

If you follow Foster2Forever on Facebook and/or Twitter, you know that our 22-month-old foster boy, Lil Bit, broke his arm last week.  We have been engrossed in all the follow-up appointments and investigations that come with a serious injury, such as a broken bone.  So today, I am thrilled that we have Tammy of “I Must Be Trippin‘”  guest posting about the crazy schedule of appointments in foster care, while we attend to Lil Bit’s needs…

You Want Him to Go to the Dentist? He Has No Teeth!!!

When I entered the crazy world of Foster/Adopt Land as a single, full-time working foster mom nearly three years ago, I was blissfully unaware of what I was getting myself into. I think the foster care trainers deliberately lull you into a false sense of security during the initially training classes. They scare the poo out of you when it comes to potential behaviors of your soon-to-be children, but sort of fail to mention the extent to which your life will be completely taken over by foster care-related appointments.

I remember the trainers telling us that children in foster care are required to see a doctor within two weeks of placement and a dentist within 60 days. “No problem! I can handle that,” I thought. Have you ever tried to find a pediatrician who would actually accept new Medicaid patients and get them in for their initial appointment within 14 days?!? Good luck with that! Six placements later, and I have yet to meet that 2-week deadline. And have you ever taken a 7-month-old with a grand total of two teeth to the dentist? I have!!! The man looked at me as if I had sprouted a third eyeball from my chin.

I went into my first placement expecting to do those couple of initial medical appointments and for my agency worker to “come out to the house periodically.”

I remember the first time I wrote about all of the appointments that were taking over our lives and how I desperately needed advice on what I could do to make it better. At the time, I had a baby boy and his 16-year-old mom. Their case was a little extreme in terms of the number of regular appointments and random people requesting access to our home, but it definitely gave me a good idea of how insane Foster/Adopt Land can be. On any given day, we had AT LEAST two CPS-related appointments (ex. therapy, medication monitoring, visitations, parenting classes, training classes, home visits with caseworkers, CASAs for each child, attorneys, court dates, etc.).

We tried to cram in all of the mandatory doctor and dental visits as well as our routine visits that we would have regardless of CPS on the two days a week that we didn’t have standing appointments. My 13-month-old had his own dayplanner for crying out loud!!! And it was full!!! I remember my teenage daughter’s caseworker actually having the nerve to ask us what kinds of extracurricular activities she was involved in. “Extracurricular activities?!?!? Well, let’s see… She has therapy every Monday. Visitation with her parents every Tuesday. Parenting classes every Wednesday… You’re here today… Extracurricular activities??? ”

Just to give your poor, unsuspecting, potential and first-time foster parents an idea of what you might be dealing with, let me frighten you with:

In the two and half years that I’ve been fostering, I have had monthly home visits from:

* My agency’s Family Specialist
* The children’s Caseworkers
* Each child’s CASA

Also requesting occassional access inside my home have been:

* My agency’s Director
* The children’s attorneys
* A CPS Investigator (investigating a prior foster home of one of the kids)
* State Licensing Staff
* ECI workers
* Psychiatrist
* Counselor
* Physical therapist
* Multiple Case Aids providing transportation
* Fire Department for the annual inspection (Although I don’t really mind that one so much. 😉

Outside appointments have included:

*Regular physicals and well-baby checks
*Therapy sessions
*Medication monitoring for children on psychotropic meds
*Dental visits (every 6 months beginning at 7-months-old)
*Annual eye exams
*Annual TB testing for children over the age of 12-months-old and myself
*WIC appointments
*Visitations with birth parents and occassional other family members
*Court dates
*Parenting classes for my teen mom
*Other classes for teens aging out of care
*School-related appointments
*Agency meetings discussing my children’s cases
*And of course, 50 hours worth of annual continuing foster parent training for me (because I clearly have nothing else to do).

Have I mentioned that I am a SINGLE, full-time working foster mom?

“What have you done to make things easier for yourself and your kids,” you might ask?

Come back next Monday, as I detail the ways I’ve managed this crazy schedule of foster care appointments.

Feel free to follow my foster/adopt journey at “I Must Be Trippin’,” and join us every other week for “Foster Friday” when our panel of foster/adopt moms and family members discuss various topics related to this crazy and wonderful world we have chosen to live in known as Foster/Adopt Land.

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Guest Post: These Children Are Our Responsibility

I was recently asked, “If you could give someone considering foster care adoption one piece of advice, what would it be? “  Excellent question!  Today in America there are 115,000 children in foster care waiting to be adopted, and yet there are also many challenges that anyone jumping into the child welfare system faces — unresponsive agencies, paperwork, system delays, and lack of post-adoption resources, to name just a few.  At the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, too often we hear the frustration with what can appear to be a system that simply does not work to the advantage of parents stepping forward to adopt or the children waiting in care.

foster-care-system

But we cannot give up. When children in foster care are permanently removed from their families of birth, we make what should be an unbreakable promise to them: we will find a family.  And we will do it in a way that cherishes their childhood and their developmental needs so that they can grow and thrive within the birthright of every child – a safe and secure family of their own.

Take a moment and think about a time when, as a child, you were alone, or afraid or distraught because one of your favorite comfort items was missing or a parent was gone and you felt lost.  Children in foster care waiting to be adopted experience and feel that loss in a much more profound way each and every day.  Contemplating the challenges of foster care adoption is made a bit easier when we see the act of adoption, of forming a family, through the eyes of a waiting child.

Dave Thomas, our founder and an adopted child, constantly reminded us that “these children are not someone else’s responsibility, they are our responsibility.”

So my one piece of advice to potential adoptive parents?  Take on the responsibility and, no matter where you are in this process, commit to elevating these children by raising your voice on their behalf.

If you are experiencing unreturned calls, go up the chain and ask to speak with department managers, supervisors or directors.

If the paperwork and delays seem overwhelming, reach out to a supportive network of others who have fostered or adopted and troubleshoot the issues.

If there is process that you experience that needs to be fixed, share your concerns and suggestions for change with the leaders, from agency administrators to legislators, who create policy for children in care.  Contact the local media, write a letter to the editor of your newspaper, or create a network of advocates for change.

And if you are ready to consider foster care adoption, reach out to the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids adoption professional in your community who will work with you to find a child.  Wendy’s Wonderful Kids is a signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption that is now in all 50 states, D.C. and four provinces in Canada and provides dedicated foster care adoption workers to focus on the children waiting for families and the parents who step forward to adopt.  More than 2,300 adoptions have been finalized through this program.

Together we can all take responsibility for the 115,000 children waiting to be adopted and stop the injustice of the nearly 30,000 each year who turn age 18 and leave foster care without a family of their own.  Call us at 1-800-ASK-DTFA or email us at info@davethomafoundation.org and let’s work together for the children who need us most.

Dave-Thomas-Foundation-Adoption-Foster-Careby Rita L. Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption:  The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national nonprofit public charity dedicated exclusively to finding permanent homes for the more than 145,000 children waiting in North America’s foster care systems. Created by Wendy’s® founder Dave Thomas who was adopted, the Foundation implements results-driven national service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns and advocacy initiatives. To learn more, visit davethomasfoundation.org or call 1-800-ASK-DTFA.

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