Friday, November 07, 2014

Foster Parent Training

We started the process of becoming foster parents in the spring and I posted about it here.  We are now almost halfway through our Foster Parent Mandatory Pre-Service Training.  Once a week, we meet with about 10 other couples who are on the same journey from the Delta/Surrey/Langley area.  The social worker teaches us from 6:30-10 pm as much as she can and answers our questions.  So far we have talked about the following topics; Foundations, Trauma, Attachment & Grief.  Still to come are; Partnership with Birth Families, Parenting Permanence, Protocols, Placement & Support.

By December we will be ready to start our home study process and that will take several months.  The greatest need is for families to foster teenagers so any parents willing to do so will have their home studies done first.  We are planning to foster younger children (2-8 years old) so I'm not sure how eager they will be to get to us.  There are about 800 children in the foster system in Surrey and about 400 foster families.


Once we have completed our home study (6 interviews and a giant report), we should be ready.  They put a lot of thought into the placements, especially if it's your first time, so I'm not sure how long it will take.  They want it to be a good fit for both the child and our family.  Could be the next day, could be a month or more.  Right now I'm anticipating March 2015.

I asked the social worker about what I can and cannot post in regards to fostering.  Sharing about this process is totally fine.  Once we have a child though, I will not be sharing information about when the child arrives, age, gender etc. I am allowed to share my feelings on fostering in general but nothing specific.  I completely understand but it will be hard for me.  I love processing here.



{This video was on facebook a while back.  We watched it in one of our classes. }

We've prayed for our child a little bit more lately, whoever he/she will be.  The most common reason children end up in foster care in our region is due to neglect (lack of adequate food, clothing, shelter, supervision etc often due to addiction).  I'm not sure how I will be able to handle the emotional aspect of this journey but with most things in life, even if something is difficult, the good outweighs the bad.

Please let me know of any questions you might have and I will gladly try to answer them. 

Love,
Louise

2 comments:

  1. So interested to follow along with your experience. My good friend and neighbour just adopted two children from the foster system. They've been home for 2 weeks after a two year wait. My eyes have been opened to so much of the process.......both good and challenging. I will keep you in our prayers.

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  2. Wow. so interesting. Will you not be able to post pictures of the child on here or other social media I guess?

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