[ebrennan]

What is the different between The State Foster system and some of the private agencies out there. I here of some people in the forums changing agencies. Does each have a different certification program?
Are some better than others?
My wife and I are just starting the process of looking into our options. We have two of our own kids now and really feel the desire to help some less fortunate one out.

[kforkids]

I've done both. We were with our local county for 5 years, switched a little over a year ago to private.
Both have their pros and cons. Just a few points _from my experince!_
*In our case, the board payment is the same (often private is higher)
*with county, calls come at all times of day and weeknds. Private we only get calls during the day. From what I see, the majority of kids come in after hours. We "miss out" on lots of kids
*using private, I purchased my HS and use it all over the country, this was not an option with my county.
Hope this helps!

[sfbaymom2000]

Another thing to consider:

Private agencies may have access to kids all over your state, while the county places kids from their county, and possibly neighboring counties. However, the private agencies generally only have access to the kids after the counties have been unable to place them. In other words, the private agencies may work with monstly "hard to place" children...older, sibling groups, significant special needs.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but this is what I have been told by a private and public agency.

Good luck to you!
Lynn