[CATJNY]

Hi. Me and my husband are in the beginning stages of fostering to adopt and I just got to thinking about taking a vacation after we get a placement for fostering. Such as next summer we plan on going about 4 hours away to the 1000 islands. If we have a child placed to us at that point in time, can we still go? if so id imgine that if something in placement changes, such as the child going back to their legal guardian, while we're gone, we'd probably have to come back immediately? I will double check with our sw next time we talk, but I just wanted to ask here before I forget.

[Elle83]

You can normally vacation with the kids as long as you get prior permission to leave the state. In terms of a child being r/u while you are vacationing - we normally have prior warning of court dates and do not schedule a vacation when we have court...

[afamilythroughfoster]

Be sure to give them plenty of notice. We travel a lot. In the beginning, it would take anywhere from one to four weeks to get a permission slip. Then our sw got tired of writing them and wrote us a blanket note for traveling that covered three months at a time.

[stevenstwin]

The other possibility is to use respite and vacation without the child - which might be the way to go depending on the age of the child, if you can get permission or not, etc.

[xxsurroundedbyxy]

We have to let the SW know so that they can let bios know that visits will be cancelled for that week etc. Where I am at, they don't actually have to ask bios for permission per se. My SW told me it is because the state has custody and can make those decisions but they do like to talk to the bios about it first.

I am all for using respite, but respite is almost impossible to get where I am at so they almost never tell the foster parent no about taking them with them. My husband and I decided to take no long-term placements this summer so we wouldn't run into this problem and we have been doing respite for other families this summer because it is so difficult to find when most families in our county are filled to the max.

I would plan the vacation and try not to do so with all the fostering in mind because so much will change and some vacations have to be planned months in advance to get reservations etc.

[CATJNY]

Thank you all!

[lhutton]

You may also need to think about where you're going. We have had no problem getting permission to take the children anywhere in the US (not that we've ventured that far). However, we did run into difficulty with Mexico. We had a trip planned to celebrate our daughter's adoption. Judge decided to take a vacation and the adoption was at risk of being significantly delayed. (They only do adoptions once a month.) While DSS said yes, they did not have an original copy of her birth certificate or a passport and drug their heels about obtaining one. Luckily the judge was willing to overbook an adoption date and she was legally ours before we left. If not, I'm not sure what would have happened.

[arubagirl]

It is fine as long as you get "permission" we have taken our Fd to FLorida, Pa, Ny. and in the fall she is going to washington Dc and Aruba with us

[stevenstwin]

Originally Posted by lhutton

You may also need to think about where you're going. We have had no problem getting permission to take the children anywhere in the US (not that we've ventured that far). However, we did run into difficulty with Mexico. We had a trip planned to celebrate our daughter's adoption. Judge decided to take a vacation and the adoption was at risk of being significantly delayed. (They only do adoptions once a month.) While DSS said yes, they did not have an original copy of her birth certificate or a passport and drug their heels about obtaining one. Luckily the judge was willing to overbook an adoption date and she was legally ours before we left. If not, I'm not sure what would have happened.

Yes, that's a good point! We ran into trouble when we went to Disney World- 1 month before we were supposed to fly out, and the SW STILL had not done anything about getting my FS a passport! I finally had to stand in her office and ask WHERE he would be spending those 2 weeks in respite, and how she planned on explaining to him that SHE was the reason he wasn't going to Disney World! That got it done, but short of that....Ironiclly we were told that if our vacation was 3 months later he could have applied for his own passport - no need to prove TPR and guardianship once you are 16!

[CATJNY]

Originally Posted by stevenstwin

Yes, that's a good point! We ran into trouble when we went to Disney World- 1 month before we were supposed to fly out, and the SW STILL had not done anything about getting my FS a passport! I finally had to stand in her office and ask WHERE he would be spending those 2 weeks in respite, and how she planned on explaining to him that SHE was the reason he wasn't going to Disney World! That got it done, but short of that....Ironiclly we were told that if our vacation was 3 months later he could have applied for his own passport - no need to prove TPR and guardianship once you are 16!

oh wow I would have probably done the same thing, I think I would be heart broken to tell a FC that w're going to disney only to have to turn around and say sorry you cant go with us. Im glad she did get it done though!!!

[AmahMama]

We've taken fk's all over the country... In CA we had to let the agency know and provide them with dates/locations/travel arrangements etc. It was relatively pain free and easy to do. In Fl everyone has to get thier hands into it and it seemed way more complicated. Last minute respite for girl sibs when the cw didn't do her job, I had to appear in court, last minute, when another dropped the ball, we had to get actual court ordered travel documents from FL. In OR we just let the cw know, provide information, and they provide the permissions. Over the years we have only had problems with 2 inept cw's and have traveles thousands of miles with many different children.

Make your plans and enjoy your time. Ask your cw or licensing worker what the process is in your area and provide lots of time for them to fumble..... LOL

Enjoy!

[c.a]

I have traveled to several states and even to Mexico with foster children. I did provide plenty of notice. Before one trip to Mexico the cw helped us obtain a passport.

Have fun.