[YaYaPow]

I Was Placed With A Newborn Baby On June 2, So I Have Had Him For 2 Weeks Now And I Call The Local Wic Office Yesterday To Set Up Appt For Wic, When I Was Told That Wic Checks Had Already Been Issued For Him For The Months Of June And July, So I Called The Sw About This And She Said, Oh The Mom May Have Picked Then Up And She Would Call Mom And Ask Her, Sw Never Called Me Back. The Sw Picked Up Baby This Morning For A Visit And When She Returned The Baby With No Wic Checks, I Asked About It Again And She Claims She Forgot And Would Call Mom. I Don't Think This Is Right For Me To Buy Milk For Someone's Child And They Pick Up The Wic And Just Hold On To Them. The Mom Is Going To Court Next Week And Baby May Go Home, But I Told The Sw That I Will Still Need To Buy More Milk Before Then Even Is He Does Go Home. I Am Really Irritated By This And The Fact The This Sw Acts As If This Ok. How Would You Handle This?

[Sam-N-Tony]

FYI, call WIC again and explain your situation. They will reprint it to you in your name. My baby was already receiving WIC (with Mom) and she came with no WIC checks, I went to WIC and gave them a copy of my placement letter and had my name on as authority to cash the checks. Skip over the SW, I just did last week. Even if MOm was going to give you checks you cannot use them since you are not a proxy or have authority.

Call them now, they should let you walk right in.

[tvs4]

Call the WIC office and explain that the child is a foster child to you. You might need to get a supervisor on the phone to sort this out. Tell the WIC people that Mom has the checks but won't hand them over and you need formula. When I worked for WIC years ago we ran into these situations and would have "emergency" formula for situations like this. I would also ask them to make a note in the file that the child is in fostercare and that mom shouldn't pick up the next round of checks. Mom can get in trouble for having checks for a child not in her care. Ask the WIC office to call the Social worker. Maybe that would make the social worker do her job?

[mamaboogerbear]

Not sure what county or state you are in, but here in PA, (having gone thru this myself), ask the WIC office if they are able to void the checks and issue you new ones.

We actually had a FM return the checks to WIC and they issued me new ones once they had the original ones in their hands. Since we were over an hour away, this helped out tremendously.

You may also want to ask the WIC office if they have any formula on hand that they could give you. Explain to them the situation with Mom and that they baby may go back to her. That's probably why she is holding on to them.

WIC usually does have cans of formula on hand for these situations that they either buy with funding they receive or is donated by people who used the checks to buy it and then their baby couldn't use it.

You could also try Catholic Charities or the Salvation Army to see if they have any formula on hand or could give you a voucher for a local grocery store.

One more thing to try would be any local food banks. You never know.

If all else fails, ask your SW if the agency could provide and emergency supply. I know it's probably unlikly, but can't hurt to try.

Hope something I've said helps!

[ranoutofnames]

I never have the WIC case changed until the child is adjudicated a CINC. Then I work with the cw and parent to get any checks returned.

In our state the WIC office won't reissue the checks unless the person who has them turns them in (they used to work with foster parents but after some federal law about 2yrs ago they aren't willing to reissue without a police report stating the checks were stolen). I remind the cw to tell the parent if they use the checks while the child is in custody it is against the law and that doesn't sit well when trying to get your child back... that usually does the trick.

In the mean time, call the child's pediatrician (or any pediatrician) and ask if you could get a few cans until you find out if the baby is going to stay in custody. The pediatirician offices often get a monthly supply donated by the different formula companies hoping the office will recommend their formula. My pediatrician's office always has several cans available when I run into a situation like this.

Wish you were here around me... my former foster daughter just gave me 10 cans of 3 different types of formula she isn't going to be able to use with her daughter. She knows I'm due soon and I am always getting babies placed that will need it. I thought that was very thoughtful of her.

[jbee]

i've found that our wic office is usually cooperative for me..our son was on it as a fc, and when we adopted him my family then became eligible.
i don't know what kind your baby is on, but if you must spring for it yourself the wal mart brand always worked well and was the least expensive. sometimes my checks didn't get him enough for the month so i just sucked it up and bought it.

[YaYaPow]

Thanks, everyone
I did call the wic office back and they can only re-issue check if mom gives them to me and I take them in. I don't think that the SW even talked to mom about this, I also called the local Salvation Army, they don't have any formula but wanted to know if I need help with rent or utilities(what?) I told them no. I guess I will take your advice Jbee and pick up the Walmart brand because everything else is so expensive at least until next week. maybe the baby will go home, but I don't know they have had the 72 hour hearing the another hearing last week and he's still here, so not sure what will happen next week,so if he does not go home something is going to have to be done about this. Thank again everyone

[EZ2Luv]

Just an FYI. I know that Carnation and Similac does give out coupons and free formula checks if you write them or call them. Many people do get these formula checks(they do not require any paperwork or confimation that there is a baby)and resell them on Ebay. Sometimes if your even register on certain baby related websites they will automatically send you introduction packages. But these formula checks are really worth signing up for. Some are as much as $11.00 each. Whenever I have gotten them I have passed thrm on to the local homeless shelter because I breastfed and obviously had no use for them. They even sent me 4 cans of powedered formula.
I guess they do this now because they are not able to promote formula at haospitals anymore. With my first baby I got all kinds of stff from the formula company while in the hospital(a nice diaper bag, formula, coupons, ect) Then any subsequent babies I had, they no longer gave these items out. Now yu have to request them.
I will send you the sign up link if you PM me as I am not quite sure I can post it here.

EZ

[blubutterflies03]

I went with my foster baby to get his wic. I was at the office for 2 hours. Then finally they asked to prick my finger. I went for it. They come back and tell me my iron was low. Ok. So then i am still so confused. Then they asked me how much did i weigh before i had the baby. I told them i am the foster mom, ha! I told them that when i walked in there.

[buttascotchbaby]

Originally Posted by YaYaPow

Thanks, everyone
I did call the wic office back and they can only re-issue check if mom gives them to me and I take them in. I don't think that the SW even talked to mom about this, I also called the local Salvation Army, they don't have any formula but wanted to know if I need help with rent or utilities(what?) I told them no. I guess I will take your advice Jbee and pick up the Walmart brand because everything else is so expensive at least until next week. maybe the baby will go home, but I don't know they have had the 72 hour hearing the another hearing last week and he's still here, so not sure what will happen next week,so if he does not go home something is going to have to be done about this. Thank again everyone

I think someone may have mentioned it in an earlier post, but if they did it is worth repeating: my pediatrician is always happy to give me samples for free, especially when I have a new placement, so that might be something to think about. Also, make sure that the WIC office knows that baby is with you, just in case you cannot get the coupons from bio mom this month, so that they don't give her the next batch. I had a similar situation with my first placement and had to wait for the next month as bio mom was not reachable to turn in the current ones

Good luck!

[YaYaPow]

I told my CM about the situation and she spoke with baby's SW told her she needed have mom bring in wic checks. Baby's SW said she would call mom to try and get them, however SW told me two different times that she had or would call mom. I don't think she wants to call this mother for some reason.( It sometimes seems to me that these parents can just do what ever the want to, at least here in Georgia) I know that I can get formula somehow it's just so crazy that these social workers would expect me to pay for formula when the mother is just sitting on the wic. Mom was issued her wic at the hospital, the very same day that the baby came to me from the hospital with only 1 container of ready to feed formula and the onsie he was wearing and about 15 diapers. Is that suppost to last for 3 weeks. I know I am required to buy diapers, wipes and clothing but formula as well. Anyway I'll see if SW gives me a call today, but I won't hold my breath.

[wannafostersoon]

Wow,, how very frustrating. Hope your CW decides to do her job today and you get baby's WIC. They are his, not moms.