Foster Care Red Tape need help

[Hangin_On_AGS]

Hi foster care veterans, My husband and I have been looking at getting into fostering for about 6 months now. We just put in an offer for a bigger house. But now after talking to the social worker and her telling us we sounded great 4 months ago we have found red tape.. Our county wants you a year away from any major life changing event, my husband and I got married 5 months ago. I'm wondering if the fact that we have been living together for 3 years and have taken long term care of a child who wasn't ours would matter towards that at all? Our social worker is out of her office and don't know when she will be back. We really want this and have even gone to the extent of making sure the house is in a good school district

 

[1Kraftymom]

First of all, congratulations on deciding to become a foster parent! You will love it! I am a foster parent to 2 young children (an infant and a toddler). Second of all, If you go to the county's DSS website there should be an online policy and procedure manual specifically for foster care that can come in handy. You should be able to change your residence, especially since you do not have children in your care at this time. Have you started your foster care licensing classes? Even after you complete the required coursework it can take several months before your actual license is approved by the state. Be sure to ask lots of questions because, honestly, I have found that you have to really dig to get what you need at times with social services. If your state/county is anything like the one I live in, there have been tremendous budget cuts and rearranging in the social services setting so there is a lot of turnover with social workers which results in a lot of confusion and few people really having a thorough grasp on policies and procedures. Best wishes and good luck!

 

[Hangin_On_AGS]

We start out classes in jan, from what i'm understanding in my county they are in a real need for foster care parents, When we talked to the social worker the last time, she stated that those were just general guidelines that can be discussed. So that makes me feel better. I have to call her again here pretty soon because the first actual class of the year starts 3 days before the first informational meeting of the year. So i'm wondering if she will let us sneak into the class so we can get it done