[beantree7]

Hello,

I was wondering if your own biological children need to be vaccinated to become a foster or fost/adopt parent?

If they are not vaccinated, how do you respond to the vaccine question?

[xxsurroundedbyxy]

In my state, we were told yes..that they had to be vaccinated but I believe many states have waivers based upon beliefs etc. Your foster children will have to be vaccinated by state law (there are no waivers there). I think with children who have backgrounds filled with uncertainty, you may want to think long and hard about bringing them in to live with your unvaccinated children 24/7. Do you have a waiver to keep your children from being vaccinated for school?

Kim

[CaddoRose]

In Texas they must have them. Kim brings up an important point: you never know where the kids come from or what they might have been exposed to. It's one of the reasons we had to do Tb testing and we also started Heb B vaccines for all of our family. Tetanus too. You never know.

[chevyjewel]

I'm in MN. It was never asked or required of us to provide proof of our biological children being vaccinated to become licensed.

That said, with all that potential foster children are typically exposed to (unhealthy diseased adults and other children, TB, HIV, AIDS, Hep, and a myriad of other diseases skin blood and fluid related) there is NO WAY I would not have my children vaccinated against everything I could before bringing them into our home. The kids that I've had to date were not healthy children and rarely caught up on vaccinations themselves (with the exception of babies I've gotten straight out the hospital). Keeping your own children as safeguarded as possible from everything they bring in is the responsible thing to do.

[beantree7]

We are currently in the process of becoming FParents... and I have had other friends interested. A friend of mine does not vaccinate her children and was wondering if it would be an issue. Yes, she does have a waiver for school... so I am wondering if it is even the same kind of thing... and yes, I agree Foster Kids can bring a lot of "stuff" into your home!

[butterfly8626]

We are in Arkansas and had to show the exemption letters for our bio children. Nobody even questioned us or took a second look. It should not be a problem at all as long as you have the exemption letter.

[MomwithFive]

Originally Posted by butterfly8626

We are in Arkansas and had to show the exemption letters for our bio children. Nobody even questioned us or took a second look. It should not be a problem at all as long as you have the exemption letter.

Same here. We didn't even have to show the exemption letter though, we just had to tell them why we didn't vaccinate. It was never a problem. hth's

[xxsurroundedbyxy]

Originally Posted by butterfly8626

We are in Arkansas and had to show the exemption letters for our bio children. Nobody even questioned us or took a second look. It should not be a problem at all as long as you have the exemption letter.

I, too, am in Arkansas and we had to have our children vaccinated and show proof before being licensed. We were told there were no exemptions (which didn't matter as both my children were up to date on their shots and we are pro vaccinations). So possibly each county is different. The OP will need to contact the local state licensing to know for sure I guess.

Kim

[Melissa1978]

we delay vax and dont do some of them like Chicken pox. we have our in home meeting next week, and the SW asked me about vaccines. my kids are behind and one is really behind, since i tend to blame her aspergers syndrome, on the vaccine reaction she had at 4 months.
I will have to see. I guess if the state forces me to put some of the vaccines we dont belive in, into our children, then we will have to pass on fostering. but i dont think it will be a problem.
I dont vaccinate my dogs ether( except rabies, thought there has NEVER been a reported case in our county ever) and if i have to vaccinante them for dhpp, and whatever, i will. but my kids.. well, we will have to see....

[Tuppy]

All we did was copy our waiver from the state of NM and include it in our paperwork.

We are required to vaccinate any and all foster children for as long as they are wards of the state.

It was an absolute, though, that we vaccinate all of our pets.

Deb

[Melissa1978]

My contact with the agency just left and said that it is ok that i selectively and delay vaccines for my kids, I cannot be required to vaccinate, and she said that all foster kids MUST be vaccinated, but i can do it on a slower schedule if i want, and the pediatrician agrees. I just have to let them know when the vaccine appointments are.

That made me feel good. At least i dont have to vaccinate my kids for things i dont want to vaccinate for.

[beantree7]

Oh wow thanks! I appreciate all the feedback!!
There didnt seem to be much info on this and this thread was very helpful !

[chevyjewel]

Originally Posted by Melissa1978

My contact with the agency just left and said that it is ok that i selectively and delay vaccines for my kids, I cannot be required to vaccinate, and she said that all foster kids MUST be vaccinated, but i can do it on a slower schedule if i want, and the pediatrician agrees. I just have to let them know when the vaccine appointments are.

That made me feel good. At least i dont have to vaccinate my kids for things i dont want to vaccinate for.

This surprises me. In every case I've had so far the foster child's biological parents held all the cards as far as medical issues were concerned. If they wanted them vaccinated, seen by specialists, second opinion when an issue arose or whatever their wishes had to be respected and followed through with on my end.

At least in all of my cases it was not up to me and/or the child's pediatrician to make medical decisions for a child, but rather the biological parents and the case workers collectively.

[Melissa1978]

Originally Posted by chevyjewel

This surprises me. In every case I've had so far the foster child's biological parents held all the cards as far as medical issues were concerned. If they wanted them vaccinated, seen by specialists, second opinion when an issue arose or whatever their wishes had to be respected and followed through with on my end.

At least in all of my cases it was not up to me and/or the child's pediatrician to make medical decisions for a child, but rather the biological parents and the case workers collectively.

I dont know anything about that. I am just staring out, so i can only go off of what i was told by the CW i am working with. I am sure it will change, as has about everything else, since we started this, depending on who we talked to.

[queenjane]

I'm in MI, and it was not an issue at all.....the doctor just wrote "no vaccines due to parental choice" on the physical form. I didnt have to show a waiver (but at the time, my son was being HS'd, so i wouldnt need a waiver anyway....thats just for school enrollment)....i did have to get the cats a rabies vaccine, but i would have fought them on any other vaccine (why would it be an issue to not vaccinate your pet for a PET disease yknow? but rabies i guess i can understand even though there is like a zero chance of getting rabies from an always indoor house cat.)

i disagree with those who say to vaccinate your kids because "you dont know what the foster child will be bringing in"....most of us who choose not to vax do so because we do not believe it is healthy for our children....the kinds of diseases a foster child might bring into your home are generally NOT the diseases for which they vax (such as measles, polio, etc)....indeed, i feel i would be compromising my son's immune system by vaxing him, thereby causing him to not fight off diseases that a fc IS likely to bring in (such as lots of general sickness, colds, viruses, etc from not being well taken care of)

I received a new foster baby who came to me having been vaxed with his first dose of hep B, and i took him to get his first major round of baby shots (dont get me started...it was HORRIBLE, his personality *disappeared* for an entire week, he had a huge lump at the injection site thats still somewhat there a couple of weeks later, he cried and was irritable....totally unlike him....for days....sorry but that is NOT normal, even though they claim it is)....i think i'll switch doctors to one willing to delay/selectively vax for the next round...i just can't do it to that baby again. The social worker never mentioned vaccinations to me at all, never asked to see any paperwork, so i doubt she'll care.

If someone tells you that you "must" vax your kids, keep going up the chain of command until you get the answer you want. Someone tried to tell me i couldnt homeschool a child placed for adoption (before finalization....not foster), until i asked her to ask her supervisor...turns out she was *wrong*....so best to keep pushing.


Katherine