[potentialsinglemom]

I am having problems with some lingo. Are "state contracted" foster care agencies the same as working with the state agency. Or are these contracted agencies considered as private agencies.

[CaddoRose]

I'm in Texas and can explain what I know. You can either chose CPS as your agency or go with a private agency. All agencies that place children taken into care are under contract from the state. It can depend on where you are int eh state, but generally when a child(ren) are taken into care, the state puts that info into a database which all agencies can view. Each agency including CPS looks at their available families to find one that is close to the area the child is from to find a suitable home or open bed(the states term for a possible place). The CW of each agency will then call potential homes and ask if they are interested and then report back to CPS with a yes.

When we went to an info meeting before we were licensed, CPS told us to not pick CPS as our agency, but to pick a private agency. They said CPS would take too long to get our license and that the state was moving toward using private agencies as the placement tool with CPS dealing with all the legal stuff. This will allow agencies to do the day to day supervising with CPS handling the legal aspect.

Not all private agencies work with CPS in placing. Some only work with placing children who are already TPR'ed. Finding an agency depends on what you want in terms of placements and if there is an agency that works in your area.

[potentialsinglemom]

Originally Posted by CaddoRose

When we went to an info meeting before we were licensed, CPS told us to not pick CPS as our agency, but to pick a private agency. They said CPS would take too long to get our license and that the state was moving toward using private agencies as the placement tool with CPS dealing with all the legal stuff. This will allow agencies to do the day to day supervising with CPS handling the legal aspect.

Not all private agencies work with CPS in placing. Some only work with placing children who are already TPR'ed. Finding an agency depends on what you want in terms of placements and if there is an agency that works in your area.

I am in San Antonio and there are a quite a few private agencies here. I just have to figure out which one is reputable.