Foster care is substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility. Neglect is the #1 reason children are placed in foster care.
ne·glect: verb
- fail to care for properly.
You have children in your care and you are failing to care for them the way they need you to. Many factors prevent you from properly caring for your children. Drugs, alcohol, abuse, and more. We have chosen to stand in that gap and be a safe home for those children.
I have no desire taking a child from their parents. I will, however love on them, care for them, and provide for them while their parent(s) take the steps to be able to properly care for them again. Reunification is the goal for sure. We have a desire to adopt eventually if the Lord calls us to that!
Our journey started in February 2019 when we felt called to find out more about foster care. We knew people who had gone through agencies. We first attended an informational meeting. We were given the hard truths of foster care, the facts, the statistics, and the heartache that come with it. We were all in!
We came home on fire and told our children what we planned to do, discussed it with them, asked them questions, and answered questions. The older two were on board! Our youngest is 2 and has no idea what’s going on. All she knows is that her room is no longer her own.
Is anything ours in this life? No.
Absolutely nothing belongs to us. The Lord has blessed us abundantly with more than we could ever ask for. We are choosing to foster, no one is making us, Satan will try over and over again to prevent us from this calling. We are rooted in truth and know what we are embarking on.
After that first initial meeting we started our official training meetings! They were a few times a month and lasted anywhere from 3-6 hours long. We had to get a lot of babysitters. We also had to miss some of our kid’s games.We had to miss time with our children. All of this is a sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed his life FOR US. The least we can do is be there for these children.
March we continued with trainings and had a week off for Spring Break.
April was National Child Abuse Prevention Month so there were no trainings offered that month.
May we continued with trainings.
June and July we didn’t do anything due to Summer with the kids and traveling a lot.
August-October was getting more items turned in, we had a ton of paperwork to do, we had inspections, we all had to get a TB shot, We had to get fingerprinted and background checks( they took a few weeks to come in) We had to find every document like birth certificates, SS cards, diplomas, fill out information about our parents and what home was like growing up, we had to give financial information… it is a lot y’all.
We had to move Leighton into Ainsley’s room so that he could have his own room. This was a process. I was able to get him all new furniture, bedding, and decor for his room! A lot of planning and love went into his room so I hope truly loves it the moment he steps into it!
We had some unexpected bumps in the road which made our personal process a lot longer than it usually is. This was the most frustrating part of it all. THE WAITING. You will wait and wait and wait and wait and wait. BE PREPARED TO WAIT.
Our HOME STUDY was finally scheduled after waiting WEEKS just to schedule it.. October 17th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of our information was missing from the home study so the subcontractor had to go back and do phone interviews with Jerod and I for over an hour so that our home study could be submitted.
Now we have done everything to become licensed and now we WAIT SOME MORE. You will want to cry a lot, you will question your decision, you will have worry, doubt, and fears. Push through it all and remember why you are doing what you are doing! REMEMBER this is a sacrifice that pleases the Lord God almighty! Nothing you do goes unnoticed by our creator.
If you have any questions please, please reach out! I am happy to answer them all.
I am still learning and have so much more to learn but I am here to listen if you need someone.
