[Ssumner]

We are licensed and waiting for the official "paper" in the mail. We are licensed for up to 3 children. We will take 2 children.

When you first started as foster parents, how many children did you first get???

Thanks!

[CaddoRose]

We started out with one girl, 2.5 yrs, who had a brother, 18 months, in hospital. He came to us 3 months later. I'm so glad I started with one. It enabled me to get used to the system and work through the needs of the child(and she had lots of needs) I'm sure I could have handled two if they had come together though.

[deadcalm]

I worked full time and didn't know anything about taking care of children, so I started out with one.

[greenrobin]

After we were officially licensed, we had 2 sib sets of 4, back to back. We were licensed for 5.

Of course, I was mom to 4 back then, so I had a bit of experience.

[Chancey]

We started with two. We had a sibling set of 3 yo and 18 month old.

[shycar]

We were licensed for 4, but opened our home for one, since we never had kids. LOL we were placed 3, a 7yr girl, 5yr boy, and 3yr old girl. The boy was a level 3 highest level, the oldest a level two. Boy was that a shock and a big learning experience. The kids were wonderful even on the hard days. We still think of them often.

[sandysis]

[The boy was a level 3 highest level, the oldest a level two. Boy was that a shock and a big learning experience. The kids were wonderful even on the hard days. We still think of them often.[/quote]

What do the levels mean?

thanks.

[potentialsinglemom]

I started with one. I am glad I did because it gave the the chance to transition myself and the baby who was 4 months old at the time.

[parenting-over-40]

I am licensed for 2 but started with one. As a single Mom, I wanted to make sure I had one situated before I added the 2nd one.

[greenrobin]

Levels are a designation of needs/behaviors. Kids who have no known issues are ranked at level 1. Almost all first time fks are level 1 initially.

Our first sib set was level 1. One of the boys, 8, was removed by the police to a psychiatric facility. His little brother, 6, followed a week later, minus the police involvement. Middle sister, 7, went to an assessment center and then to a therapeutic home, taking Queenie with her. Queenie was 2 and had no issues.

Unless you're licensed as a therapeutic home, you shouldn't be seeing level 3 kids.......unless they're new to the system.

[arbuckle17]

We really only wanted one to start, but there was a need for 2 brothers to be placed, so we took both.

We are licenced for 2 with contingencies because we only have one room available atm.

[Sunnyblu]

We were licensed for 2 (0-5) but they told us we could have 4 with the space we had and we have 2 bio children. We were placed with 2 siblings under 5 and still have them. We really wanted to start with one but were anxious to get a placement and were told we had a better chance if we'd take siblings. It's been great, we love them and have now raised it to 3 as we'd like to add a little girl (then we're done . They were both basic (level 1) but 1 is being raised to moderate. It was a learning curve and it's really, really busy with therapies and visits. Then there's the whole gender thing. We found out girls are different lol. From what I understand from here and foster friends, there are very few true basic children, at the very least they all have to adjust, they've all been through things (or they would not be removed) they have to heal from.

[thelowlanders]

We requested 3-5yr olds I believe.

Our first placement ended up being
All girls ages 4mo., 1.5yr, and 2.5 yr olds.

Whew! It was a doosy

[reesegayla]

We requested children under 5 and we were open to sibling groups. We really had full intentions of only taking one child for our first placement but they called us with two boys 22months, and 3 years that were a "short term placement" they said it would probably only be about a month. 11 months later we not only still have them but we have and their baby brother for 5 1/2 months as well. They will probably be going home after the first of the year.

[elk134]

We took three as our first placement. Our licensing worker brought us our contract, we signed it and she asked if were ready to take a placement. They were a sibling group of three and currently in an emergency shelter. Ages at the time of placement were 2,3, and 5. If we had to do it all over again, we would have started with only one. We were worn out after only the first week!!! But....we couldn't stand the thought of kids staying in a shelter. So, we picked them up the next day.

And another piece of unsolicited advice. If you find yourself getting worn out, please use the respite!! That's what it's there for. We found a great family that we used for respite on a regular basis. saved our sanity!