[mountaineermom]

Yesterday I was talking to a CPS supervisor in my county and I mentioned to her that I have only got calls for older kids, and I really was hoping for an infant. She said well since you both work outside of the home, most CWs wont call you for an infant. None of the other workers had ever mentioned that before. I explained to her that I planned on taking the baby to work with me and that I have a playroom/nursery set up at my office.
But of course, all the homefinders and SWs do not know that, I assume they just think I will put the baby in daycare.
Do most CWs prefer to place infants with stay at home moms?
If so, do you think it would help to call one of them and put the word out about my particular situation?

[Longing2bMom]

I am in the process of being licensed for fost/adopt. I am interested in adopting an infant or toddler as a single parent. When I was doing my initial interview, the agency SW told me that some county SW's may have a problem placing a very young child with me because I work full-time. However, she said that eventually they probably would have to place with me because our county has a shortage of fost/adopt parents and many young children entering the system (kind of feels like being chosen last for the kickball team). Surprisingly, she didn't think being a single parent would be an issue at all.

I did ask her if it would help if my mom was the daycare provider and she said that it would help immensely and that she would write that up in the homestudy (unfortunately, mom is now unable to do it for health reasons). I think you definitely should call and make sure they know the child would be with you and not in daycare.

I can kind of see their point in preferring to place with a stay-at-home parent even though I which that weren't the case. I, myself, hate the fact that I'll have to put the child in daycare, but it is the reality of my life right now.

[shy_bear]

It was our experience that only couples with a stay at home parent got the newborns. We have a friend who was called when the normal placement cw was on vacation with a newborn situation, they did decline the placement but when she talked to the placement cw she was told she should have never been called. I know most of the babies we fostered years ago and our son was so small from the drug exposure they would not have done well in a day care setting and some of them just can't be in daycare b/c of their health.

[Chancey]

Both my DH and I work full time. Our last two placements have been a 2 month old and a 6 week old. So, I guess it all has to do with where you live. Here in TX they have no problem placing infants when you work full time.

[stevenstwin]

Since your situation is rather unique and the child WON'T be in daycare, I don't think it would hurt to give them a call and let them know. Personally, I can sort of see the reasoning. I have nothing against putting a child in a good daycare ordinarily, but foster children often come with trust and abandonment issues, and attachment disorders and really do need someone who can be there full time, at least in the beginning.

[Mummy_Big_Bird]

My office also doesn’t like placing babies where they will be put in daycare. I am a nanny, so the kids are able to come with me. When I got licensed, they classified me as a stay-at-home parent, but put a star next to it and commented that the children are always with me while I work. I am single as well.

I find it funny when I go to review meetings, and the first question I am asked is if the child goes to daycare. I think the rule is different from office to office.

Make sure the office knows about your situation, and they have it documented.

[takingtheplunge]

I would tell them your situation. You must have a really unique job. My concern would be that it sounds like a great idea, bring your kid to work, but will it work when she/he starts crawling and walking?
We thought we could get by with day care for only 3 days and DH would watch her when he worked from home. He runs his own business, so he is his own boss and arranged to have two office days. But once she started crawling actively, we realized it would not work. It would not be safe, and it's not fair for her to not be as stimulated with activitiies when he is working at home. Now that she is walking, I can barely get housework done. If I bring work home, I can only get it done when she is napping. Keep in mind, at one, they will want the phone if you are talking on it to clients and the computer if you are typing. Even though I understand and I am a parent now, I still think it's the most annoying thing when I am talking to a contractor and I hear their kid screaming in the background.

As for DPSS, share your plan w/ them. When I called and reminded them that I was going on summer break -- an ideal time to stay home and bond w/ a child, I got a placement a week later. I also was told that I would have to wait a year after this placement was finalized to adopt again. Yet, I was told that if I had more family medical leave time left, it would be a consideration. After the SW met my family and knew I was willing to take all of my family leave time and go on extended leave if necessary, I was told the one year wait could be waived if I wanted.

If you think about it, I understand their point. Not all daycares are bad. Some are. These kids are oftentimes fragile and need special attention. A family home day care with 10 kids, one of which is your baby, staffed my a mom and a helper is really not suffice. That mom has her household stuff to do and sometimes aids call in sick. A day care center that is max 4 to 1 is better in terms of supervision and gearing activities to your child's age level. However, you have to look around b/c some have more caring and seasoned staff than others. Some "turn-and-burn" their staff too much.

Also, some foster/adopt parents apply for subsidies for day care. I am NOT saying that is bad. But, in effect, the county/state would be paying out a lot more for a working foster parent if the foster parent collects their stipend and daycare subsidies.

These are just things to think about. Your post says you want to foster. Is it foster or foster/adopt? I think if you want to adopt they may be more likely to place w/ a working parent. For foster only, they might just turn to shelter homes until they find a more suitable placement that can be their 24/7 and be availble anytime for visits and Dr. appts. Pretend you are the SW. WWYD?

[plum93]

At my agency infants are only placed with someone who stays home due to there being no daycare vouchers available for kids anymore. I can't imagine getting a foster parent who would be willing to pay for private daycare on there own in our area because it is extremely expensive.

[fostapeepz]

Over and above the daycare issue, there is also the issue of all the extra running that is often necessary if the parent is working a case plan. We were running our girls to visits 3x a week, and they had doctor/dentist/eye and counseling appointments also. I am self employed, so my schedule is flexible, but it was still a lot of running. When we had their half-brother - he had some medical issues. I lost an entire month of work taking care of his medical needs. I would assume that in those cases the caseworkers feel it would be less hassle and stress on the family when there is someone who stays home and doesn't have to answer to a boss about the time they need to get things done.

[mom2fabtwins]

I'm just lucky. I am a single WOTH (work outside the home - thought I needed letters too) foster parent who has been doubly blessed. I was placed with 3 day old twins. They have since turned into an adoptive placement.

The came to me cause I was willing to take a sibling group and all the other SAHM were either full or didn't want twins.

God smiled on me that day.....hopefully one more smile and the adoption will be final.

[mountaineermom]

I agree with you about not being able to get work done with a crawling baby all over the place. I have thought about that LOL. my state pays for daycare, which I think I would use once the baby is old enough to benefit from daycare (ie socialization and interaction with other kids). My job situation is unique. I manage an insurance agency and I hae very flexible hours, my mom is also my boss and she is here at the office with me also to help with the baby. My fiance works in the school system, so he would be off by 3:30 every afternoon to pick up the baby and go home. He also would have summers off.

Takingtheplunge- youre making a good point, and I hope that if I do get an infant that it would be foster/adopt because it would be much harder to bring small children to work with me if they are just here for a short time, and then when I get another new placement do it all over again! I am doing both foster and foster to adopt, but I would most likely take some time off if the infant were medically fragile or special needs.

[millie58]

I'm a single working parent. I got an infant because I had his brother. Originally, the infant was supposed to stay with bio mom. But her hubby was abusive so a day after the baby was born, the cw called me about taking him. The hard part was when he was RU with bio mom.

[fredalina]

It hasn't been an issue for us. The state provides a daycare certificate and we've gotten plenty of calls for infants and toddlers (in fact more than for older kids, which was our original homestudy), and are currently fostering a baby girl who came at 2 days. Just yesterday i got a call for a 2 year old (but we don't want to take unrelated kids at the same time; just too many caseworkers, court dates, doctor appointments, etc etc).

[hcg]

It was no problem for us. DH and I both work, and we got 2 infant placements in a row - the second was only 6 days old when we got him. (I had to take a couple of weeks off/working at home for that placement.) AL's DHR pays for daycare.

[fostermomintx]

My first placement was a 4-month-old baby and I was a single working outside the home mom. I have had several placements that were young.

And my soon to be adopted daughter came at 6 weeks old from another foster home. I had her brother and they wanted them together so I agreed and I will be adopting them in a month or so...

I don't think that it's fair to restrict babies only to SAHMs, maybe they just don't want to pay for daycare. That's never been a problem in the last 5 years that I've been a foster parent...they were so desperate for foster homes that I don't think they wanted to restrict themselves to calling only stay at home moms...