GPS

Just in case you were wondering what all is required for fostering, here's a breakdown of the items I have completed and what is pending:

 

Copy of birth certificate

Copy of homeowner's insurance

Copy of SS card

Copy of Drivers license

Copy of car insurance

Monthly budget

Physical/TB test

Copy of home emergency plan

Application

Questionnaire

 

My pending items:

Finger printing

FBI background check

CPR certification

Water safety class (if you plan to take the child swimming, which I will)

Completed GPS class (I'm 1/2 way there!)

Homestudy (with a list of things they will look at at your house)

 

I may be missing something but that's the gist of it. There are a lot of steps.

 

Last night at GPS we talked about how to handle a child's behavior. You can't spank a foster child so they talked about 15 ways to handle a child's bad behavior, such as time out, grounding, reinforce good behavior, etc. The main reason you can't spank a foster child is because many of them come from abusive homes and they can't distinguish abuse versus punishment. It wasn't the most exciting class, but I am still enjoying the class each week. Most parents never take a class on parenting so I sort of feel this is a good preparation for me not just with fostering but if and when I have children and in the way I interact with my nieces and friend's children.

 

One of leaders talked about two twin teenage girls that were in her home whose mother always told one of the twins she was the prettiest and the smartest and of course she got a big head and rubbed it in the other sister's face. The other sister had a very low self esteem and even though she was attractive, too, she did terrible in school because she never felt good enough. The lady who fostered them tried so hard to work with her and build her self esteem. I'm praying about whether or not I would take a teenager into my home. I don't think I can handle a teenager that needed a lot of discipline but one that just needed to hear she was beautiful and smart would be fine. I'm trying to be as open as possible, yet knowing my limits. The Lord only knows what children is going to be best suited for my home. We'll see.

 

After GPS I was watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice and on Private Practice one of the guys died last season and then his daughter's mother died too. A family member was keeping the daughter but then she didn't want the responsibility anymore so she dumped her off at the practice. Everyone knew they should take care of his daughter but no one was willing to step up to the plate to adopt her so then the "people mover" (from a child's perspective this is who the Social Worker is) came to take her. I have had a heard time grasping how children get in foster care because if you have family and friends surely someone is going to take your children. I know I would adopt my nieces in a heart beat if needed and I would go so far as to say that I would take my closest girl friend's children in, as well, if needed. So it's just really hard for me to comprehend that there are people out there that don't have that kind of support. Heartbreaking.

 

It's kind of exciting to go through this process and not having a clue what will come of it. I'm just being obedient to God's call to care for children in need but I have no clue what that is going to look like in my life.