[rraiford]

Have any other foster parents in PA been affected by the recent policy changes from DHS? The number of placements have been reduced significantly. Is anyone considering domestic adoption versus trying to foster to adopt?

[luvmykids4]

My husband and I are new FP in Pa. We are going through the county, and just got approved April 30. What changes are you talking about? I am curious to know. Thanks

[NATURENUT]

My wife and I are also from PA, we are waiting on our license as I type this response.
We also are curious bas to what changes you are talking about.
We are going through a private agency, who get children from 3 surrounding counties and they seem/as well as state they are busy. Our CW has been out on several calls this week. We have been trying to get a hold of her to find out the status of our license. It has been a month since the final home study. We were told at the last home study that it would take 1-2 months to finalize everything.

So we are wondering what the changes are and when they were implemented into the system

Thanks

[jbee]

we've been f parents for almost 3 years, we are in franklin county. yes, what are you talking about? i know there were some changes last year i think about mandated reporting (alot more would get reported?) so i thought there would be more kids in the system? what other changes can you tell us about? thanks

[DianeScraps]

I have no idea what changes you are referring to, and I have friend who just this week had the 5th child placed in her home . . . (2 adopted, 3 foster) . .. .

[Mkuhlmann06]

We received a letter from our agency in January 2008 that there were some changes in the federal/state laws and as a result, FBI fingerprints are now required (yearly) on all certified foster/adoptive parents. Previously, FBI fingerprints were only required to be done had you not lived in PA for the past five (5) years (we moved to PA from NJ and had only lived here one year before we were certified). I think there are some more stringent checks to make sure the yearly training points are documented/tracked, and maybe a few other "checks" that need to be done prior to certification (or recertification).

Our recertification for foster care was done in December, we are currently working on updating our adoption homestudy. We were advised in Aug (which is the 2 yr mark since we completed training) we will need to do FBI clearances, first aid & cpr training, etc.

I personally don't think these changes have affected the number of placements.

[rraiford]

I apologize for not being clear. We are foster parents with an agency based in Philadelphia. Because our son is three years old we would prefer to foster children 4 and under. Our agency has not have a placement from Philadelphia for a child under 5 since January. We were told that this was a result of recent changes by the Department of Human Services (DHS). I was told by my agency that DHS was not removing as many younger children from their birthparents as in the past. I wondered how other new foster parents in the Philly region were dealing with this situation. I guess I am alone here.

[DianeScraps]

I did know about the new FBI fingerprint requirement, that has been 'in the works' for at least 2 years, they just weren't sure when it was going to happen the last I heard. But even our school district is requiring it now, so it really isn't a surprise.

Philadelphia is still placing children. I know of children that have recently been placed over an hour outside of Philly (near Lancaster county), recently. I know Montgomery county is also removing children.
BUT I also know that April and May tends to be very slow in our area. Funding runs June through May so they are short on funds right now. Also as the schools are letting out and they are losing that daily check on the kids more kids are removed over the summer.

There may also be a problem between your agency and the county.

It appears that Montgomery county is trying to place with their own foster parents before going to private agencies. So that may be another potential issue.

[meshsgrl]

I work with an private agency that works with I think 5 different counties, and altho they dont have a lot of kids under 4 I know that in 3 weeks time I got calls for 16 different kids. The intake person for the agency said they havent been this busy this time of year ever.

[rraiford]

Could you pm me with the name of your agency?

[kimb1005]

We have been waiting for a placement since July 07. We requested a placement under 4 years as that is the age of my youngest son. We work with a private agency in Phila--my SW told me that they haven't had many calls recently.

[rraiford]

I am so concerned about moving forward as a foster parent. My husband and I are committed to the idea of being foster parents but I feel as if the state of PA does not want or need foster parents for young children. Dept. of Human Services is hosting an Open House to celebrate Foster Parents in Philadelphia. Is anyone planning on attending?

[luvmykids4]

rraiford - I did not know about the open house, so we will not be attending.

I don't know if you have checked into your local children and youth agency. I was told a couple times when researching foster care/adoption that the county agencies get the children first. They are the ones that remove children from the home, and they are first responsible for trying to find them a new one. Usually with younger kids, they find a home in the county pool of foster parents. I was actually told by a private agency that the county sends kids to them if they are not able to be placed within their own pool of resource parents. Translated, most of the babies and toddlers would have been placed with children and youth families, and not even make it to a private agency. I hope this makes sense. Believe it or not, that was the main reason we went the county route, vs. private agency.

I have also been aware of the changes in fingerprinting, FBI, etc. I should have been approved in mid-November, but just got approved April 30, because these changes held us up.

Hope this helps and best wishes

[kimb1005]

I also did not know about the Open House.
I do know DHS in Phila contracts out --they don't have a county agency and,as my SW explained, it goes by turns in the rotation which could explain my wait ( I guess). I just figure that when I'm meant to get a placement, I will (probably right before I go out-of state on vacation, creating a whole other issue).

[rraiford]

Could anyone recommend an agency that does foster care and works with several counties in PA outside of Philadelphia including Delaware County?