Talking With A Foster Parent
When I first wanted to write this blog I knew I wanted to interview a foster parent to show all of the steps that they must go through in order to be licensed foster parent. This will help all of us to understand that children are not just handed over to anyone and the foster care system is truly trying to do what is best for the children.
I had the honor to interview a woman by the name of Meg, and her and her husband have been going through the foster care licensing process. They are currently only waiting to receive their FBI back ground check with finger printing. The following is the interview I had with Meg.
Donna: What made you and your husband decide to become foster parent?
Meg: It sprung from a conversation we had with our pastor. He asked how many biological children they wanted. Actual adoption can be very pricey. Neither of us wanted an international adoption. About two years into the marriage we started talking about becoming foster parents. Both me and my husband have medical challenges to try to conceive on our own so we decided that we have a home, both of us have jobs and we can open our doors to a child.
Donna: What agency did you go through to start the process?
Meg: There are several different agencies out there, but we are going through Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS). No matter what agency anyone would go through, they still need to be licensed through DCFS. Some agencies have minimum requirements where as other agencies have higher requirements. It varies from agency to agency.
Donna: Do you have a preference as to what kind of child you and your husband would like?
Meg: We have no preference as far as race, cultural background, sex or sexual preference. The only preference we do have is the age of the child. We prefer to have a child with the age of birth to eight years old.
Donna: Do you want to eventually want to adopt your foster child?
Meg: Yes, we would ideally like to adopt the foster child. We have talk to our case worker and let them know that ideally we would like them to place a child with us that will be eligible for adoption.
Donna: Do you or your husband have a history of foster care within your families?
Meg: No, we have no history within our families. I have however worked with several foster children in my previous job as a teacher before moving to Illinois
Donna: Aren’t you afraid of the stigma attached to foster care because of all the media and the focus on the bad things about foster care?
Meg: It depends on how one chooses to portray themselves. People are going to judge no matter what, so be it. I believe that judgement is based on who you are, where you live and what you have.
Donna: Are you worried that you will have a child placed with you and you will become attached to them and they will be taken away?
Meg: It is more like a job than a motherly situation. There is a lot that I need to be accountable for and a lot of documentation. Yes, you do get payment for taking care of the child, but you have to show proof that the payments you received are used for the child.
Donna: Can you take me through some of the steps that you have had to go through to become licensed?
Meg: In February of 2016, I started researching who to contact here in Illinois. I submitted an online request for more information on fostering, adoption and fostering to adoption. I was contacted by a licensing representative and our information was sent on to the DCFS agency located in Decatur, Illinois.
We then received a package to introduce us to the program and to also briefly go over some of the requirements. Some of the requirements are a crib, water temperature, number of beds, and the amount of square footage that they have in their house.
About ten days later we had a representative come out for a home inspection. The preliminary inspection consisted of checking for fire alarms, the water temperature in the home, how many bedrooms, if they are firearms in the house and if there are pets in the home. During this inspection the representative also asked what preference they had in a child. The representative also discussed with us what was going to happen over the next few months.
We would be receiving a sixteen-page packet that would go into such things as, FBI federal background check with fingerprinting, our marriage, our families, mental health, physical health, work, family involvement, pets, previous relationships, any involvement with DCFS prior, parenting styles, and pet records including shot records and physical exams. We were also going to receive a packet that was twenty-pages long that would include things such as references from five different people, proof of insurance, water quality if on a well, and fire escape plan and how they were going to go over that with the child.
We were required to attend Pride class. These classes were twenty-seven hours long and consisted of topics such as, parenting styles, abuse, sexual abuse, how to identify it and how it might manifest, behavior issues, parents rights, reunification, foster parents rights, medical card, and questions we should ask when getting the call for placement. We also had key note speakers such as, Licensing representatives, child advocates, foster care advocates, and county health nurse.
We will be getting a license that will be good for four years. We do have an obligation that within those four years that we are required to put in sixteen hours of continuing education. If we do have a child placed with us that has a disability either both physical or mental we are required to put in forty-five hours of continuing education.
Donna: I saved the big question for the last. Even though you have not had a child placed with you and your husband yet, how do you feel that the children fall through the cracks and we end up seeing those horrible stories in the media?
Meg: There is not enough funding and or resources due to all of the budget cuts. There is only one licensing representative located in Decatur, Illinois. Case workers are overworked and underpaid. It used to be that if there was a parent out there that was having trouble dealing, they could step up and say that they needed help and DCFS would help them, but since there is little or no support now, it is getting to the worst before anything can be done. I also believe that some foster parents are wanting to change the world and they take on too much and cannot handle it. I truly wish that there was more preventative care so that children would not have to be placed in foster care.
A special thank you goes out to Meg for taking the time to sit and talk to me. One thing that was stated during the interview that took me completely off guard was everything that Meg had shared with me that her and her husband had to go through to become licensed, but for a parent to have reunification with their child, they only have to prove that they can provide the basic needs of the child, meaning food, shelter, and clothing.
Hopefully after reading this you will also find it in your heart to follow Meg and her husband’s lead. They are opening their home up to a child, in hopes of changing that child’s life, but also that child will change their life forever. Remember, children are our future and with our help they could grow up to the the next president of the United States.
