[bellamae]

My DH and I are set to do our training classes at the end of February. We'll have class on Thursday evening, Friday evening, and all day Saturday through our agency.

What are these classes like? Can anyone tell me what we can expect? I'm getting a little anxious.

Thanks!

[TexasJingles]

Welcome! Glad you're looking into fostering or adoption of foster kids! It can be tough, but it's a great reward.

A lot depends on if you're with an agency or going through CPS, but in general...

rules, regulations, behaviors (how to handle, what you're not allowed to do), meds, sexual abuse and behaviors that can come up, how to stay safe when or if a child becomes physical (we had to practice getting out things like having our hair pulled, or kicked, or hit), and a lot on how we felt about things (we had a lot of homework for our classes). There's also 1st aid, CPR, more if you have a pool or water on your property, what homestudies would be like (although ours didn't even come close to what actually happened).

And, we learned a lot in classes of how things were supposed to happen after being licensed...you'll find that it "kind of" happens that way, but not really.

Like I said though, you'll find every training is a little different in covering all the state requirements. Just enjoy. Have fun with the process. Again, welcome!

[bellamae]

Thank you! That was exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

We are preparing to do foster-adoption of children under age 3 through an agency. (We don't want children any older than that because we're young - 26 - and have only been married three years.) We are so looking forward to it!