[DoYaReallyThink]

I am disabled and we are not married but have been together for 10 years. Nice home with room to run. No other children in the home and we are both middle aged. Our kids are grown and gone. Would we be accepted or not even looked at?

Thank you

[Bug-n-Bears-Mommy]

I don't see why you would not. If you have any questions, call your local DCFS office and ask for more information. I know here in WA State they have an informational package that they send out to potantial foster parents. Good Luck!

[Mkuhlmann06]

If you've been together for 10 years, then that shows stability. If your DR(s) will sign off that although disabled you can still care for a child, then that should take care of any medical concerns.

I don't think those to factors at face value will reject you. I agree with the previous poster, call your local children and youth office to get information or attend a local agency informational night.

Good luck!

[Withay]

By all means, go ahead and try. I have some dear friends who are both disabled and they are foster parents who have just adopted a toddler girl and are in the process of adopting toddler boy siblings.

I personally and 51, never married and am a foster parent to medically fragile infants and toddlers (3 and 4 at a time).

Go for it.

[DoYaReallyThink]

Thank you. I guess it's not hopeless then. That's a good thing. Are you able to choose just to have one gender and maybe ask for teenagers? Babies would be too much for me to handle. I have a nerve ending disorder in my hands.

[coachmur]

yes, you can be very selective. you can say what gender, what age, you can also so no if you feel the child has needs that you won't be able to meet, etc.

don't worry about saying no, you will be called back. i know when i first started i worried about that.

[stevenstwin]

Originally Posted by DoYaReallyThink

Thank you. I guess it's not hopeless then. That's a good thing. Are you able to choose just to have one gender and maybe ask for teenagers? Babies would be too much for me to handle. I have a nerve ending disorder in my hands.

There was a couple in my foster parent training classes that sound a lot like you! They were in their 50's and the woman had some health issues - and they fostered JUST teen girls! They said that it worked really well because some of these gals really needed the guidance of a foster parent that wasn't too close to the same age as themselves, and benefitted from being in a home where there weren't a lot of younger children. Now, I must say - the couple told us that they HAD had some pretty difficult kids over their years, but that they also had some that made it all worthwhile.

[DoYaReallyThink]

We live in the country on 5 acres with a ban of miniature horses that get showed. Would they be allowed to do an activity like that if they chose they would like to? Sometimes the horses go out of state, if one chose to show a mini would they be allowed to do that?

You guys are great with the answers. Thank you!

[singn63]

I am also disabled and a single parent...you can do it.
The thing they look hardest at is your criminal background. If you show you can financially support yourself and have had no violent offenses against you, well there are a couple other criminal acts but if your nose is clean and you are not so disabled that you cannot attend to a childs needs ( picking up a crying baby etc..) you can be a foster parent.
Good luck!

[cabbagepatchkid]

I am a single 53 yr old female with 4 grown children, 4 grandchildren, home daycare provider who began fostering at the age of 49. When I was 51 y.o. I adopted 2 of my foster children who were my first placements. They were 2-1/2 ys and 12 mo old at the time of placement and they are now 6 and 5 yrs old. Nobody even gave my age a second thought.

Years ago when my parents were doing foster care (back in the mid 60's) they fostered a baby straight from the hospital until he was 18 mo old. When it was time for him to be adopted my parents were turned down because they were considered too old to adopt a baby--they were in their early 40's!! So, you see, times have really changed and there is a great need for good foster homes. Good luck on whatever you do by I say "just go for it" what do you have to lose?