[Kristin7]

Hi
My name is Kristin. I am a single woman and have recently decided to start foster care classes with the idea of hopefully adopting a child. I have no children of my own, but have provided shelter and love to my two nieces that were removed from their home(my sister's) and placed with me. I had them for four years and they were just recently reunified. Because of this experience I have learned that I have a huge heart and am able to love and give children love and security and stability and want to do that for another child/ren.

I suspect that my nieces will be placed back with me in the near future...but even if they were...I have the love and the space for two other children in my home.

Questions: I am working with an agency and they told me that it is very unlikely that any children under the age of 10 would ever be placed with me. Is this a realistic statement? I have been reading here and am astonished to see all the very young children being placed in your homes...not at all what I have been warned to expect.

Also....if I have the goal of wanting to adopt the child..should I register as a foster home or a foster/adopt only home and will that prolong any placements with me?

And 3....how is the financial part of it handled? I am not doing this to make money, obviously....but I am not rich by any means and can't afford to pay for lots of things for the kids...if they just stay a day or two. Does the agency pay for care if the kids are there for just a few days/weeks?

Any help,advice, suggestions etc....would be greatly appreciated.

I'm in Illinois and would love to hear from any other Illinoisans.

Thank you
Kristin

[waiting home]

Sounds like a agency problem. Please private message me, I'd love to know what agency you are working with. I kinda have a feeling; but we can't discuss agencies on the public forum here.

We've been there and had to switch agencies, not once but twice being told what we will get not what we felt we were capable of or willing to do.

[TNfostermom]

I was told that here in TN if you are wanting to foster young children you need to work directly with DCS instead of going through a private agency. The private agencies here only place the children that DCS can't find homes for.

My goal is to eventually adopt as well. If you are not in any rush to do it I would recommend doing straight foster care. I think if you go into it thinking that the bio parents will get the children back and they do go back it would be easier to handle emotionally than if you do foster/adopt and the children go to back to the bios. You also get the chance to see what kind of children you can handle and if the children you have in your home fit with your family.

You get paid for every night that the children spend with you. We have call in days every two weeks. The one thing I didn't know was that it takes a few weeks before you start getting your checks. So you need to be prepared to spend money on the children before DCS gets the money to you. We have had our children for five weeks today and so far I have only gotten one check. I am waiting for the second check. I have already spent more than what the first check was. I should get caught up with this next check. With two of them starting school we have had extra expenses too.

[tybeemarie]

Hi! I'm in Chicago. My DH and I have 3 kids, ages 6, 8, and 10. They were 6, 7, and 9 when placed with us in November. We had turned down a placement of another sibling group ages 1,2, and 4. So, no, it is not impossible to get younger kids. Mind you, these were legal risk placements. If you want kids who are legally free, that is a different matter.

I used to be a child welfare lawyer, and I have a good sense of the reputations of various agencies. There are some really, really awful ones out there, some that are not so bad, and a few that are comparatively good. If you PM me, I'd be happy to go into more details.

Good luck!

[Kristin7]

Ok...so I think I am hearing that I need to go through DCFS instead of a private agency for placements?

I didn't know there was a difference between DCFS and private agencies. Can someone tell me the main differences.? Thank you.



Also....is it more of a headache dealing with DCFS directly than through a private agency? I have had some dealings with DCFS over the custody of my nieces and am not thrilled with their work/care for the best interest of the children.

Is it different in the foster care section of DCFS than it is in the child welfare department?



Help.................



Kristin

[MsPoppy]

Hi Kristin, I had asked the same question on another board, "Becomming Foster Parents" Go there and read"Whats the Difference???" I got some pretty good responses


Good Luck

Jeannette

[Kristin7]

Thanks Jeannette

I appreciate your help.

Kristin
I'll go read it now.

[gclvaruba]

I have to tell you that we tried the first year and a half of our adoption venture through a private agency. They failed us miserably to the point they lost their state contract.

We needed to make a decision as to whether or not to place our homestudy with another private agency or directly with our county DFCS. DH & I decided to deal with DFCS since they are local, also realizing we could not be treated any worse than we had already been treated by our private agency.

Upon placement of our homestudy with DFCS, they came out and did a home inspection within a few days. Just days later we were approached about a sibling group. They were not yet legally free, but termination was going to begin soon and was just a formality. DH & I were ready to dive in hearts first, but the girls had some medical issues and the psychs and CASA could not agree on what was best for the children. After two months of hanging on, we were told that the girls were going to stay in the custody of the group home where they were at that time.

Disappointed? You betcha!! Same day received a call back from our CW. Would we be interested in foster to adopt? They had a girl in our age range available for foster to adopt. All this time we were registered simply as an adoptivie family. We did not want to take the risk of having a child(ren) placed with us, only for them to be reunited with their bfamily. There is a reason we have taken in 5 stray cats and never found new homes for them We were very upfront with DFCS that we would willingly change our status if they were really honest with us about a placement were in all likelyhood there would be no reunification.

All of this happened in the matter of one day. Our new dd moved in with us 2 days later. She would have been brought home the very same day if the CW'S had not had training which they could not get out of.

This was last September. TPR was filed in January (was supposed to have been December- changes in lawyers). Following numerous continuances, TPR hearing was held in June and the judge issued his decision on July 17. We expect to sign the final adoption papers towards the end of September or as soon as we can get a court date whichever comes first!

As far as the money situation goes, we are also not rich. None of us here do this for the money because we do put out much more than we receive. I can tell you though that our county has been extremely generous in helping us. Yes, we have to outlay expenses first, but they always reimburse us in a timely manner. Besides our monthly subsidy and dd's medicaid, DFCS has never said no to us for anything: diagnostic testing for Autism, summer camp, swimming lessons, eye glasses, dental visits.

Just an additional thought...our county (as does many parts of the country) has a serious Meth problem. Local DFCS are the ones who receive the call to come pick up the kids and there are lots of them. In our county, reunificiation only occurs 10% of the time, surrounding counties may go as high as 30%. If your heart can handle it, IMHO, it is best to cut out the middle man (the private agency) and deal directly with DFCS and go with foster to adopt. These people are the ones who are responsible for finding a home for these children whether it be temporary as in foster placement or permanent as in adoption.

If you are unsure, you could always do respite care to start. Either way, DFCS will get to know you first hand. Another consideration is the fact that in most circumstances the foster family will have the first option of adopting a child should them become legally free.

Sorry this is so long, it is just that I feel very strongly about it!

[Kristin7]

Lisa

Thank you very much for your long and detailed post. I think that after reading your post and some from others here...that maybe I should change to working directly with DCFS and not with the agency I am with now.



Can that be done..or do I have to work with the agency? Is the agency the one paying for the foster care classes? Not much as been done with my case yet....just started classes last Saturday.

Thanks for the information. I am so happy for you that you have gotten a placement and are proceeding with adoption of the child. Congratulations.



Kristin

[gclvaruba]

Hi Kristin,

I would call DCFS and explain your situation. Tell them that you are in the process of taking classes. Their response may very well give you a good indication of whether or not they have their act together. Good thing to know before you make the switch!

BTW, use Tybeemarie as your best resource! She could give you excellent information regarding Illinois. She has a vast knowledge of "the system".

[lambeausam]

I've been a DCFS foster parent for eight years. However, I also accept placements from some private agencies, also. It is possible to have younger placements.

Sam

[GAdreamer]

Here in GA the difference between private agencies and DFACS is that DFACS gives the kids to the agencies to place...Typically the kids" given to" the agencies are the older kids who have a host of problems have been in care for a while, been in multiple placements etc... Most of our private agencies consider them selves "theraputic foster care" meaning you would need more training and youa re going to get kids with more issues... In our state kids have levels..Level 1 & 2 are considered Basic foster care...these kids go to the county foster homes who have basic training...difference between level 1 & 2 might be a child with asthma or with a history of some mild behaviors etc...Level 3-6 are considered Theraputic Care...these are your medically fragile kids, kids with emotional and behavioral disorders like RAD, ODD, bipolar etc... the closer you get to level 6 the closer you would be to having a child who qualifies for Residential treatment etc... Here we have to choose DFACS or an agency... if you want younger kids I would stick with the county...but the risk is always RU...

[gclvaruba]

Just as a side story...here in Georgia when we were originally with a private agency, we were matched with a 15 yo girl. The match failed after 6 months of visitation, just 1 week short of when she was supposed to move in to our home.

Four months later, after we had had our homestudy transferred over to the county, we were offered a child who yes was younger, as were the sibling group before her which did not pan out. The thing though was that September placement who we are now adopting had never been diagnosed as high functioning Autistic while in foster care in 3 different homes in a period of eleven months...Moral of the story, you never know what you are going to get, but we love them anyway.