[pgjennig]

Hi all. Looking for some good agencies to call. We are just getting started and would like to hear some of the good and bad from here in Indiana.

Also has anyone had false allegations charged against you? The internet makes it seem like it happens all the time. I'm scared to death because I have 4 bios and I would hate for the state to take them for a day or 2 while investigating some lie or confused tale. Any insight will be helpful

Thanks

[whoownsthis]

Keep in mind that the county agencies are MORE likely to place a child with you if you are one of THEIR families (having had the county do your home study). This is because it costs the county less to place with one of their own (cheaper) families (some counties as low as $18 or $20 per day, straight to the family) than with a private agency family (some as expensive as $80 per day--the family gets $30 and the agency gets $50 to manage the child's case!).

However, a private agency will put you first, will respond to your needs immediately, and will defend you (with their own lawyers?) if a child whom they placed with you makes an abuse allegation. They'll still have to remove the child until the investigation is complete, but you won't go through it alone. (Birth children are not removed so easily, unless they themselves make the allegation.)

RE: abuse...We just got our foster license in late July, so we haven't received a placement, yet. But our social worker (from a private, Christian agency) told us that abuse allegations are more common with children who have been moved around alot, especially if they suffered past abuse or have attachment issues. (But not ALL children who've suffered abuse make false allegations!)

She told us that with all foster children, we should keep a nightly log, noting challenging behaviors as well as gains that the child has made. Then if there is a record of lying, manipulating, etc., the abuse investigators will see that the child is simply acting out. But a child who makes false allegations needs to be in therapy! (And a therapist will back up your claims to the police, too. Just be sure that you attend therapy with the child. Otherwise, children with attachment problems will "triangulate" the adults...meaning that they'll lie to and manipulate one against the other, usually the foster mom: therapist against foster mom, foster dad against foster mom, even social worker against foster mom. This is why you need a team approach to helping the child feel safe.)

Sorry to ramble. I just finished reading Nancy Thomas' "When Love is Not Enough: A Guide to Parenting Childen with RAD," so this is all very fresh in my mind.