[shannobananno]

If I commit to fostering children in the 0-10 age range, will I be a lot less likely to be placed with a baby considering a lot of people commit to only fostering babies? I would think the only babies placed with me will be those of a sibling group but I can only care for 2 children. I am able to be home during the day so I could care for a baby. I have babysat only for infants/babies so it is the age I'm most comfortable with and drawn to. I would love to foster school-age children as well but I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to care for a baby. Any advice? BTW, as I mentioned in another post which will probably be read by very few, there are 100 foster children in my county and 45 foster parent families. I don't know how this compares to other counties but I'd imagine that foster parents here wait longer for placements than most counties. I don't know?? Anyway, any input, advice?? Thanks!!

[dakotabluebaby]

That is a HUGE range!
As you know, the needs of a baby are so different than that of a toddler, which is totally different than 5, 7, 10. This is ever more pronouced if you don't already have children (Which I don't know if you do) or if you are not used to being around all age groups (again don't know).

I would suggest starting with a smaller range and then expand based on what comes up and what you are truely comfortable with.

I am only fostering 0-3 years and already I am having trouble deciding on toys, essentials...ect Because of the differences.

Looking through everyone's experiences there are kids, and you will get them...unfortunatly that is just about definate.

I am just suggesting be careful about streching past what you are comfortable and certain about, This is a hard road as it is.

Best of Luck!!

[Krissy_and_Chris]

We were going to do 0-10 to begin with too, but after thinking about what a huge range that was have decided to do 0-3. We are hoping to adopt as I am unable to have children and would want to adopt in this age range as well. I say go with what you are comfortable with at first....you can always change it later if you want.

[marigold]

Hi, I don't know any of your experiences but I am 25 and was up for 0-18 however my agency suggested I stick to what I could biologically have so I am licensed for 0-11 (14 was a young mom I thought!) My specialty still remains with teenage girls that is who I have worked the closest with in therapy and mentoring so I cannot wait to be able to open my home further! But to answer your question with my range I have recieved 10 placements a 3m boy and 2yo boy sib set, a 5yo boy, a 3m boy (still have), a 2yo boy, a 2day old boy, a 17m boy and a 4yo boy sib set (still have) so even though I will take older they have used me for the very little! So, I guess you never know. Honestly it is normally whoever has a bed open at the right time regardless of what you wanted in the begining! (I really need a girl!!!)

[Robbin]

My experience has been that they will call you with anything that comes up! We wanted under 6, and we have had 13 mo, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, and 13 year olds!

[greenrobin]

We are licensed for 0-10 and have had everything from 3 months to a 14 yr old kinship placement. Yes, the needs are very different, but I never found it impossible to look after a 2 yr old and an 8 yr old--except for the fact that the older kiddo was very emotionally disturbed. With the 3 month old we had her 13 month old brother and 2 sisters, 2 and 5. Busy? Absolutely! Impossible? No way.

There is special fun with every age, also special challenges. If you're comfortable, keep the age range.
And if you really want to be placed with babies, tell your cw.

[Luvie]

I started foster care in 06 and took a lot of time off till recently. At first I started with the age range of 2-5 girls only. In that time I was placed with 2 girls 1 and 2. And then a boy straight from the hospital. When I came back I changed it to 0-4 boy or girl. My last placement were 3 girls 3, 9, and 14. Ive only turned down two placements. One was for a 15 year old girl in 06 and the last one I got a call for yesterday and they were girl 2, girl 4, and boy 5. Just goes to show you, you never know who you will get a call for. My opinion, I would put down the ages I was most after. You will still get calls for others and you can take it by a case by case basis.

[KT08]

Where I live, there seem to be a lot of babies who come into care, so if you really want a baby, just say so. It might take a little longer to get a placement, however. My agency tries to honor requests.

[msgypsylee]

I'm 0-8 and have only been called for babies so far.

[mommytoEli]

you never know. we wanted ages 5-7....so the kids could go to school while we worked, but not too old as we were first time parents. call #1----8 and 9 year old. calls #2-9 -----all newborns we turned down because we didn't want a baby, just ages 5-7. call#10- another newborn that we accepted. lol. we then adopted all our first 3 placements, and NEVER did get a call for ages 5-7. lol.

[blueflower]

I know this thread is a bit old, but it was exactly what I was needing to read/hear. We are open (just beginning the process) to all ages 0 - 18, but I was beginning to feel like it is too open. I'm pretty comfortable with teenagers, but not sure about trying to parent them. I'm not old enough to have one that age .... well, maybe if I began when I was 14. Knowing that limiting our range may not really limit our range is good. I'll make sure to ask that question next time I see our contact person/cw.

[anilorak13ska]

Well, we went through the PRIDE training specifically for teens bc that's what was being offered the soonest. We did honestly consider teens, but after the training realized we were not comfortable parenting a child old enough to be our younger siblings' age.

The SW kept saying that once you're licensed, you're licensed, so you get calls for the whole gambet. When our SW came for the home visit, we explained to her that we're only comfortable with 0-4, bc that's the age we'd like to adopt. We've never parented before, and I hope to homeschool, so I want the child to come home before they've already gotten used to school.

I've been told they try to intimidate you into accepting kids they have the most need for (in our case, teens) and try to tell you that no babies are available, but you never know, and you don't want to do more harm than good by bringing in a child you can't handle and having them have to be moved. That's not fair to the child.

So while we're waiting to become officially licensed, I plan to accept only kids 0-4.

[Becki_in_IN]

We were initially licensed for 0-9. Our first placement was a 9 yo, but the next two were an 18 mo and 3 mo.

I think you have a good age range. It will give a good idea to see what you age works best.

[CaddoRose]

We are licensed for 0-10 and almost all of my calls have been for kids under 4 yrs old. I have turned down two calls for kids 12 and over because I don't want any too close in age or older than my DD who is 12. We have had 5 foster kids in our first year.

[Jeremiah_29:11]

We are open to 9 and under. Our goal is to eventually foster to adopt siblings between ages 2-6 but we wanted to remain open to possiblities. We plan to foster until a foster to adopt situation presents itself to us.