Getting "THE CALL"

Now that we are officially licensed and back on the list, we are waiting for "THE CALL".....again.  The agency I am with now has one "Admissions" person who makes all the calls, but you could also get a call from the Director or Assistant Director.  Sometimes you get so excited about finally getting a call after waiting that your mind goes blank on what to ask.

You know I love forms, right?!  Well I created one for initial placement calls, you can edit it as needed for your age range/preferences.   This form includes a place to jot down the child's basic information as well as a list of questions you may want to ask before deciding to take the placement or not.  One thing to keep in mind is that it is highly likely you will get calls where they have NO information about the child, its also highly possible that what little information you do get is totally inaccurate.   I've had boys show up instead of girls, 4 year olds instead of 2 year olds, and red heads instead of blondes, LOL!  So take what they tell you with a grain of salt.  I keep several of these forms in a blank Foster Care Binder. When I have a placement call that we accept I just remove any sheets from calls we didn't take and scan them into a file on my computer, then shred the hard copies.  I leave the sheet for the call we took in the front of the binder and now we are all set to stay organized and document with the new placement.

Click HERE for a copy of the Initial Placement Call Form!

 

 

QUESTIONS TO ASK PLACEMENT WORKER:

 

Is this the first time in care?

If it is the child's first time in care you may not get a lot of information from the worker unless the agency has been working with the family for awhile in home.  You can also expect their to be a lot of fear and anxiety for a child who has never experienced the foster system before.

Reasons for coming into care/removal from previous foster?

Any background information you can get on WHY they are coming into care will be extremely helpful in trying to understand fears, anxieties, triggers, behaviors, etc.  It can also help you tweak your house rules and schedules to anticipate any needs the child may have.  If the child is coming from another foster home you will want to know exactly why they are being removed.  I would ALWAYS ask to speak with the previous foster parents, unfortunately I often hear stories about how information on things like aggression/violence, sexually acting out, attachment type issues, was not passed along or told to the new foster home.

Any allergies, health problems, medications?

They may not know but you will want to ask.  Also if you have pets, specifically ask if the child is allergic to pets.  For some reason often times placement overlooks this when you ask in general about allergies.

Any known emotional or behavioral issues?

This is a BIG one, you can expect any child coming into the foster care system to have been through A LOT already and as a result they will likely have some issues.  However, if they have known emotional, behavioral, mental health issues you want to know what they are in order to make the best decision for your family.  These children do not need another move, so if it can be at all prevented by you letting placement know up front the issues are too much for you to handle, do not feel guilty about saying "No".

How often are visits, when, where?

In my area we are required to transport the children to and from visits, their is no transportation provided.  Depending on what county I get a call from the visits could be a decent drive away.  Also near me younger children are being order to have more frequent visitations.  So knowing ahead of time how often and when visits are can be a determining factor.  The non-working birth parent who would rather sleep in on Saturday morning, WILL get that afternoon visit they want even though you have three soccer games to get to and your husband works Saturdays.  Okay maybe where you are this doesn't happen, if so don't ever move LOL!

Any known criminal or drug involvement?

If you take older kids this is an important question to ask.  You may also want to ask if the parents have any ongoing criminal or drug issues as well.

Who is the caseworker?

Once you've been doing this awhile you may have some caseworkers that you just DO NOT want to work with for various reasons.  Some are uncooperative, untruthful, down right nasty.  This is not a blanket statement for all caseworkers, some will be wonderful!!!!!  BUT you may want to make sure your not taking on the added stress of a bad caseworker with the child.

Any potential family coming forward for child?

This can give you a good idea of how long the case might go.  If they already have family saying they want to step up it may be a short placement.  Never a guarantee though, many family members will not pass the homestudy.

Any other information or potential issues?

Lastly ask the placement worker if there is ANYTHING else they know about the placement.



Business Cards for Questions/Comments when you are Out and About!

Have you ever been out with your brood and gotten questions or comments that you just didn't want to answer or now how to answer, especially with a bunch of kids staring up at you?  I have, which is why I made these business cards that I can hand out when I hear things like, "Don't you know what causes that?" or "Are they all yours?". 

Finally Finished

Finished......well sort of! HomeStudy Assessor came by last week to do the final Safety Inspection and despite the fact that the molding is still not up in the kitchen....I passed! What a nightmare that Kitchen ceiling has been, my brother was still trying to get everything done minutes before the social worker was due to show up. Thankfully, she has never been here on time and runs at least 30 minutes late each visit....which normally irritates me to no end :) So now its just a waiting game until I get my license. She says she will need another week or so to get everything written up and then it will be a few weeks before her supervisor reviews and signs off on the homestudy. Then it gets sent to the state and I should receive my license. She seemed to think it would be another 2 months or so before all the paperwork was completed and the license received.
Later on in the week she called back and told me she just had a few questions she had forgotten to ask...which must mean she is working on getting it typed up :) The questions that hit me was, "When and If you adopt who would the children go to if something were to happen to you?" WOW....what a question! I hadn't even really put a lot of thought into that yet and you want me to give you an answer on the spot!! So I quickly told her my brother *Jesse* and hung up the phone. In most situations your spouse would be left behind to care for the children (hopefully), but how do you pick something like that. I mean my first instinct would be to say my mom, but is that really fair for her, shes already raised her kids and should enjoy the chance of being a grandma...only having to spoil the kids and then send them back for someone else to deal with all the behavior issues and disciplining! My brother is responsible and would be a great caregiver, but he is also young and is it fair to saddle him with all these kids. Plus, whose to say when of if I would die...I mean if i were to pass away and my child is 17 years old it would be a big difference then if I passed away and i adopted a sibling group of 5 who are all under the age of 6! And I really think I would need to get to know the kids first before I can make a decision like that, personalities clash, different parenting styles may fit better with a certain child....I don't know!!!
I guess its just more for me to think about over the next few months.
I bought a car seat yesterday after I spent the day cleaning out my car...yes I said "day"...it was that bad! I also found a 2T boys Ralph lauren Snow Suit at the thrift store for $3 that I had to buy.....you never know and it was brand new tags still on it!
I'm going to try and clean out Kitchen Cabinets today so wish me luck!