[honorHim]

Any foster/adopt families here from Iowa??

[Bellemom]

I grew up in Iowa!! Decorah, as a child and then Cedar Rapids for 5 years as an adult! I live in Washington now, but I miss Iowa!

[IowaDad]

Native Iowegan here. What'cha need?

[honorHim]

Didn't need anything specific. Just thought maybe some Iowa foster/adopt parents might want to swap notes, etc. Where are you in Iowa??

[IowaDad]

We live in Boone. Originally from Sigourney. We are in the 3rd year of a foster/adopt that was finalized in '01.

[JonInIowa]

My partner and I live in Iowa City and are now entering our fourth year as foster parents.

[honorHim]

We have been in foster care for almost 15 years. We just adopted numbers 5 and 6 on Dec. 31st. Wonderful, wonderful little girls!! I think we are done. We are not happy with what the government is doing to DHS!! They are so under staffed and over worked in our area that it is ridiculous!! I love to take in the children and give them a home and help them to feel loved and safe but I think we are done. Good luck to you all. I would love to hear any of your stories, tho!!

[IowaDad]

We were upset with the treatment by DHS after our girls came into our home. We had 5 months of transitional visits and the previous foster mother attempted to disrupt our foster/adopt placement after they had been in our home for 2 months. It was a disgrace on the part of the previous foster parents and DHS. We have made it through this but it has soured us on pursuing anymore placements since it was such an unprofessional experience.

[bannya]

We are also from Iowa City and have been fostering for about 6 months now. It's been intersting to say the least

[IowaDad]

bannya - what have been the highs and lows so far?

[bannya]

Highs have been watching a baby that couldn't walk, crawl, support herself standing up, feed herself & play with toys learn how to do all of those things within 4 months. When she came here all she did was scream, cry and want to eat and be held.

More highs have been watching a 4 year old that would barely talk to anyone, when he did you couldn't understand a word he said, he didn't know how to play with toys, he would just drop to the floor and go to sleep if disciplined and was very introverted, he has overcome every one of those issues. He plays just like any other little kid does, he talks our ears off and just glows when we work on his speech therapy. The only problem is that we can't get him potty trained. He was trained at one point about a year ago while in school but his family didn't keep up with him and put him back in diapers.

Lows have been interacting with the children's birthparents. We initially started off very positive and wanted to be helpful. It didn't take long for us to feel like there was no chance that these folks could not ever pull it together.

Another low, hearing the service providers beam about how great the birthparents have been doing. I would honestly be very happy if they did well and these kids had a good home to go back to. Unfortunately I don't think anyone who can't take care of themselves can take care of a child.

[IowaDad]

It is amazing to see how far children can come with love, dedication and patience. It's amazing that if you have follow through and a good plan to deal with redirection how it gets easier because there are expectations. We adopted two sisters over age 6 and they would have been better to have been raised by wolves. At least in a wolf pack they would have been cared for by everyone around them, they would have learned proper social interaction and would have been sensibly disciplined.

It's amazing how seemingly 'out of control' birth parents can be, they have no focus and their priorities have nothing to do with their children.

Rarely have I seen reunification create a healthy and mature adult. Even if the parents get their 'act together' according to the care plan.

Peace be with you.