[zoeymnstr]

Or should I say placements. We just got a 7 month old baby girl and her 16 month old baby brother. They are both precious. It is a little crazy have three children in the house. Especially since the oldest one is only two! But we are so blessed to have them. Thanks Mommacass for your prayers. We actually did get a placement this week just like you prayed for and I am sending that prayer back to you.
I will keep you posted.

[lazshay]

Welcome to the world of fostering

[mommacass]

Congrats, Your welcome, and Thank you I need all the prayers I can get. I will be turning my application in to the new agency on Monday. I kept hoping that my present one would call me before I turned it in. No such luck. I'm sure it will be awhile before I get any calls.

MommaCass

[HthrRenee]

Congrats on the new placements. I am so happy you have finally received your first placements. I know life is crazy right now. I only had my two, 20 mos. (not 18 as I was told) and 9 mos., just under a week, but we had our schedule down pat in about two days.

MommaCass - I too will be sending some prayers your way. Hopefully your new agency will be an advocate for you as well as the children. I choose to work directly with the county instead of an agency mainly because I just had no clue how all that worked. I figured “why add a middle man to the equation?” The only problem is I get zero support with my current FAD worker. She was out again this week, so they let me speak to another worker to answer a question for me. She was extremely friendly and knowledgeable, so I turned the call into 20 questions.

[ONRGARCIA]

Congrats on your first 2 placements! Life will be busy for a while but once you get them 2 kiddos on a schedule everything else will just fall into place.

We got our first placement 2 months ago (2 yr. old) and just 2 weeks ago we got our 2nd placement (2 month old baby girl) and the first few days were crazy but after we modified our schedule everything else just worked itself out.

Good luck and do let us know how it goes!

[skylark_25]

Zoeymnstr, just wanted to bump your thread. How are your first 2 placements doing? Is everyone settling in well? Give us an update when you have a moment.

Becca

[notjustanykatie]

Yes YES!! Keep us updated! Which region are you in?

[zoeymnstr]

And the kids are keeping us busy! They are so cute! We have having some issues with 18 month old G because he is having night terrors and keeps waking up. He was fine the first week but after his first visit with dad was when it started. And while he doesn't hoard food, he does feel like he constantly has to have something to eat all of the time. It is very sad but they are basking in the love we are heaping on them. The next trial date is December 13th so the judge can examine the progress that the parents make. So we at least know we have them for Thanksgiving. We would love to keep them permanently but if the parents can get their act together (they are really young and immature) and give these children the love that they deserve then we will have to accept that and wish them well. I hope if I keep telling my heart that then by then I will start to believe it.
7 month old baby R is just a little butterball. She actually looks like a Cabbage Patch doll. She has these little eyes, nose and mouth but these huge cheeks that you just want to take a bite out of. I am having a blast fulfilling my lifelong dream of buying girl clothes.
Out bio son E is having a hard time with G. They are only 8 months apart in age and E is not used to having to share his toys or his parents. I feel encouraged by the end of the day if we have gotten through the day without teethmarks or bloodshed.
It is crazy around here. My house is a mess and I am exhausting and we are going broke paying for diapers, formula and childcare but I do honestly believe this is what I was meant to do.
Thank you all so much for your encouraging words and I will try to keep you updated as time permits. Please pm me or post on here if you have any questions.
I do have one question for anyone in Texas who went through a private agency for fostering: How long did you have to wait for your clothing voucher or check to come in the mail? I am not talking about subsidy because I know those come on the 15th of every month but the $150 per child we get for clothes. I am assuming its just not something that only my agency does?

[skylark_25]

Glad to hear all is going so well Zoey. The kids sound adorable. Did you know that your fk qualify for WIC? You would get the baby's formula paid for and food vouchers for milk, eggs, cheese, beans, juice and cereal for the toddler. Also all fc qualify for daycare funding through Workforce if you and your spouse both work at least part time. You need to talk to the kids' cw about handling these things for you b/c it really cuts back on your out of pocket expenses. As for the clothing vouchers I'm not sure who handles it b/c I go through CPS. Honestly I haven't gotten clothing vouchers on half of my fc. I know I should have but I have only had boys so I always seem to have enough clothes on hand. PM if you need any more info.

Becca

[bethy724]

You have to ask for the clothing voucher - often. The kids are entitled to them quarterly-after about 1 year of "reminding" & calling I got them quarterly. WIC really helps too - all you need is their medicaid card & your placement paperwork.

Good luck - it is so exciting!!!

[ONRGARCIA]

I'm with a private agency in Texas and the $150 clothing voucher is something only your agency does. My agency as far as I know does not give our vouchers for that much. When S was placed with us, she came with only the clothes on her back and we still haven't been reimbursed for the clothes we bought. Then on our second placment with H, her worker (not our caseworker from our agency) got us a $50 voucher within 2 weeks. And do apply for WIC it is a big help, be advised that the first appointment might take you a while but it's well worth it. Also, why aren't you receiving daycare? The kiddos caseworker should of filled out the paperwork, in my area the kids are under CCMS (child care management services) and I think that's also through the workforce. You might want to check into this!

Good luck and let me tell you, I know how your feeling!!! I've got a teenage daughter and we went from being a family of 3 to 5 in a span of a couple of months.

[jigger]

I got clothing vouchers directly from my agency rather than from CPS so make sure to ask them if you are entitled. Also, using workforce for daycare is awesome. It's sort of a pain to get started but definitely worth it.

[mama2-8]

Congrats, its always hard the first few weeks to get adjusted to babies. Have fun and take some time for you.
The Journey

[adopt2010]

congrats on your new placements

[lazshay]

In general, There is a wait on the daycare. It could take up to 6 weeks or so. And remember it's only paid for if they have the money. Once the fund runs out that's it. While the funds are managed by CCMS, the money comes from the state. It is our worker who sets up daycare, not the children's worker. Daycare benefits are for us, not the children.