[MMC66]

We are considering opening our home to foster placement of infants/toddlers (one at a time or maybe 2 sibs)

Anyway, we live in southern NH. Do you know if it's possible to foster kids from MA while living in NH. I have a lot more failth in the MA system from what I've heard.

We are also interested in "non-white" kids who are much harder to come by in NH.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Martha

[mossy2]

It is possible to transfer a child out of state. I have no idea if this is possible in your situation but wort a try to contact DSS in MA. Our foster daughter is an interstate transfer from MA. We asked for her to be in our care when she went into the custody of the state because we knew her. We had to comply with the rules in our home state (MAPP training etc.) to be certified care providers. Then all of the subsidies come from MA who retains guardianship of our FD. It is very complex in terms of getting services.

We can't do a pins petiton because she isn't in the care of NY state, we dont qualify for certain regional services for the same reason. It took us a whole year to get a case worker in our home state. I wrote letters for a year to everyone at every level to get the ball rolling. Now we may lose her because she is not cooperating in our home. It can be done but believe me the system of checks and balances sucks. There is no continuity of services because neither state is invested in working at it. Our home state receives no funds and are overloaded with kids so what help they offer almost is out of kindness it seems, we are not a priority. We are not a priority to MA because our fd doesn't live in that state. I have been on the phone with the caseworker for help when she ran away, but there was little he could do but call our FD and tell her to go home. (She has never even met her case worker in MA).

Look up comopact for interstate transfer on the web. I am brain dead at the moment but I will think of the proper name for the Compact. Everything funnels through the beurocratic channels on both state levels before it goes to the local DSS so its a slooooowwww process. Contact me with any questions if I can help!

[Godmother]

That is ICPC Interstate Child Placement Compact

mossy2 wrote:

Look up comopact for interstate transfer on the web. I am brain dead at the moment but I will think of the proper name for the Compact.

[BlessedByTwo121]

From what I understand. You can only do foster care for your area. I live in Northern MASS so I am eligible for the Methuen/lawrence area. IF a child is out of state and you have plans to adopt them. Then you will be foster parents for 6 months with the intention of adopting. At this time, they do not send the "over flow" of kids to other areas. Which is sad, there may be some homes open in other regions that could take the waiting kids. I asked why they do this and they said its because they need to keep the kids in the "court" district and a lot of the social workers dont want to travel long distances.
Call the DSS office in lawrence and find out. They are very helpful. I can give you contact numbers if you need them.

[Hadley2]

Arrgh. Someone is steering you WAY wrong. I have personal experience with both states and far prefer the laws, practices, attitudes and support we've found in NH. NH has been one of the most progressive agencies in the country since the late 90's. You will find wonderful foster and foster-adopt support here.

(Before then, yes, we had some old-fashioned policies and DCYF was ham-strung in some ridiculous ways, thanks to a certain politico's conservative agenda, but he has moved on to different interests.)

On the Mass side: they removed our 15-y.o. niece four times in three months, kept returning her home to a violent, hallucinating bipolar mom and mom's sexually abusive boyfriend. At one point, they actually LOST her in the system, moving her from FC to a group home, no one actually knew where she was for a few days!!

She had also been removed when she was 12 and I'm told there were countless incidents where her mother voluntarily put her in the care of friends in place of FC before that. She is now back with her mother who at least has gotten rid of the boyfriend, entered a sobriety patch and gone back on meds. Please keep her in your prayers.

The last office we worked with in Mass went from saying she was definitely going to be placed with us (already licensed, our ICPC was fast-tracked) to not calling or even returning calls when an alternative relative placement (other side of the niece's family) was found in Mass; I found out where she was when I called her cell.

Those experiences came out of two different regional agencies.

On the NH side: DCYF is helping us ENORMOUSLY in dealing with the arcane policies and laws in Virginia (another ICPC) and have even offered to accept our 6-y.o. niece (the older one's half-sister), whom we are fostering for Virginia, into the NH system so that federal law can be followed. While it took awhile to get a local caseworker assigned (we had VA supervision and I seemed to be able to get services in place pretty much on my own), the one we have now is fantastic.

You will find that the Nashua DO has excellent licensing training, ongoing training and support services. The caseworkers are wonderful, too. Our NH laws are up to date and in complete compliance with federal law--more importantly, caseworkers attitudes and practices seem to be universally progressive (unlike what we ran into in Mass).

You can call the Nashua DO at 1-800-852-0632; ask for a foster care licensing worker (there are two). It is at 19 Chestnut Street in Nashua, but training sites vary depending on when you take the Fostering Foundations course and what courses you later take for renewal.

Don't write off your home state; it may be your best bet. Good luck to you!