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Originally Posted By angel

My husband and I are attending a Orientation tomorrow night, we are interested in Fostering/Adopting thru the State...I would LOVE any help I can get regarding the success rates, and any problems any one may have encountered by going thru Children & Families. Thanks!

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Originally Posted By Dana

Just get ready to get hurt and be happy all at the same time. The child go through alot. Remember you are not only getting a child to care for but they are bringing luggage with them. Also remember practice and love we get all of you through everything. We have had 24 children in our home in a year and 1/2. 23 of them have went home or to family members. Every family we have met and still are in contact with them. Our first set of children we sibling's, the parents want us to be their God parents. (There's no other family) At first when they go home it hurts then you step back and remember that you are only taking care of God's little angel's until they can be safe again. He will all ways get you through the hard times. After 24 and still counting (we would have and still would adopt all 23 of them) One of the little girls we are adopting. She was totally God sent. Good luck with everything and be patient. strait@bitstorm.net

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Originally Posted By Bill

Hi Angel,
Good luck in your quest. The state is always in need of good foster homes. We have been licensed for a year and have had 2 children placed in our home. Our goal is actually to "foster to adopt". Most of the children will come with some baggage and some will have a lot of baggage. Remember that most of them have come from less than stable family life and have little discepline or guidance and can reject any that you try to apply. Be ready for the middle of the night phone calls with Family Restoration, the private agency that does the placements for the Department of Children and Families. They have an immediate need at times in emergency to find homes and tell you little about the child or children that they are trying to place. Some may have behavior problems, be fire starters or even have had some relationship with juvenile justice and you just don't know about these things sometimes until they are in your home. We had 1 scary placement that didn't lasted less than 2 weeks and 1 much longer placement with a little girl that we will love until we die. Most important is to ask questions of the person trying to place the child such as how long they have been in care and how many placemenst they have been in and if they have a criminal history.

Good luck and God bless!

Bill

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Originally Posted By Lyn

Angel
E-mail me at TheRLynk1@aol.com
I will tell you about our Success story

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Originally Posted By Cherbear

My husband and I began the process you are about to begin about a year and half ago. We were licensed 6 mos from the time we started our MAPPS classes. We have fostered 3 children so far. David, came with the promise that his case was going to adoptions and TPR (termination of parent rights) right away. He was 13 mos old when we got him and he will be 2 in a month. He is a beautiful little boy who has been in care since 2 mos of age. We finally are approaching the end of the road with court dates for him next week..not TPR yet but close. We had a 4 month old for 7 1/2 mos whom we were sure we could adopt-he left last month to go to a relative who had said she didn't want to hear any more about his case...don't call. Grandpa has his siblings and wanted to send him to stepdaughter and talked her into taking him. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life to take that boy to TX and give him to these people. I loved him more than I could ever have imagined. They are in contact and he is apparently doing well and we are recovering from the loss. We just had a newborn girl for 12 days and she also went to a relative. Now, I want to tell you that as we are re-licensed for our second year we still want to do this!! God called us to it and it has been more rewarding than I imagined and harder than I imagined. The easy part for us is the children-you love them and they bless you. The hard part is the emotional rollercoaster you can be on if you are trying to adopt a child and the system is sooooo slow to get these children free even sometimes when it so apparent it needs to happen...as is the case with my David. I would recommend you getting involved in the foster parent association because the support and mentoring are invaluable! It is so nice to know that someone else really understands what you are going thru. I am always amazed that people think if you foster a child it only takes a week or so to adopt them!! The average child in foster care in FL is in care for 18 mos. If you know this is what you want to do-take these classes and get started. Be prepared to wait and to be disappointed sometimes but know that if this is what God called you to do He will equip you to handle everything that comes your way in the process.
When I took our little baby girl to her aunt and uncle it was not hard it was easy....because I knew they would love and care for her the way I would. I will miss her but it didn't hurt the way it did with Timmy.

Once you are licensed and taking in children-learn to say NO to placement if the situation is not right for you and your family (ie don't take a teenager if you really only want babies). They will call you with any child they need a bed for..be firm. Stay informed so you can be an advocate for the child. Know what is happening in their cases, court dates etc. Go to court if you can, it will help you understand the process better and the judges want our opinions. Talk to the guardians for the children-if they don't have one or the guardian isn't active get them a new one!!! I did this with my David. Stay in contact with the case workers so that they will remember your child's case and do the work they need to do. The squeaky wheel gets the oil!!!

I hope this helps and if you want to talk more email me privately at flcherbear@aol.com

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Originally Posted By Westonangel

My husband and I are wanting to adopt through Children and Families...We have 2 children of our own but would love to give Love to another child...Does anyone know if it is possible to adopt without having to go through being a foster parent?? We live in South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) We are open to either a boy or girl...Our 2 children are girls ages 11 and 8...Our 8 yr old has alot of medical problems would this step in our way of being a adoptive parent?? If ANYONE can help polease email me privately...My e-mail address is westonangel@yahoo.com...Thanks to anyone that can help...

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Originally Posted By ktsd@aol.com

cherbear.... you speak from your heart! xo