Our Journey Through the Oregon Foster Care System
This is the second part of a three part series, detailing a day by day account of what we very quickly deemed “The Week from Hell”. If you haven’t had a chance to read the first part of the week, it can be found HERE.
Sunday:
We woke up with so much uncertainty. Would DHS be knocking at our door to take Ava for reunification with her mom? Should we start packing up her things? Would Sabrina continue to intentionally hurt herself today?
We are well aware that not everybody has the ability or desire to be a foster parent. It definitely is not easy, it is not for everyone, and that is perfectly alright. If foster care is not something your family is equipped to do however, there are still many ways you can help. Here is a list of organizations that go above and beyond to help kids in care and their families, both bio and foster. Please consider donating or volunteering with these groups for #GivingTuesday, or anytime of year for that matter.
This post also contains a list of actionable items that you can do yourself, to support foster families in your community.
Continue reading “Organizations We Love”
During the Foundation Training Classes, there are discussions about how to talk to your Foster Children about what their parents are doing, and how these children “fit” into your family. There are discussions about not introducing your child as “my Foster Child” at social events, and to give the children options on how they refer to you. According to the classes, some children may feel comfortable referring to you as “Mom” or “Dad” eventually, but that this should not be expected initially, and it may never happen. It all made sense to us during the classes. We would introduce ourselves as Aaron and Jewell, and let the kiddos know that we love them and are going to take care of them while their Mom or Dad do some grown-up things and get some help so they can be with them shortly.
This all sounds well and good in the classroom and on paper, but our first long term placements have been infants and toddlers.
Continue reading “Are You My Mother?”
Four hours, that was the length of time we had to prepare for our first ever child. From the moment we told DHS that we would open our home up to care for the child, until the moment our daughter arrived at our doorstep, 240-minutes passed. This is just enough time to watch one of the Lord of the Rings movies.
From the moment we told DHS that we would open our home up to care for the child, until the moment our daughter arrived at our doorstep, 240-minutes passed.
During our initial interviews with our Certifier, we said we were open to fostering children of all ages, gender, race, religion, background, sexual orientation, etc., but that since we both work, it probably makes most sense for us to care for school age children. When we discussed the logistics, DHS agreed. In our free time during the certification process, we began to set up a bedroom in our house for our future kids. We furnished it with a twin bed equipped with a pull-out trundle (just in case), and a closet with a place to hang their clothes, a chair to lounge in, and a nightstand for their books. Everything we could think of that a child might need. We were ready for The Call.
The following correspondence is an e-mail exchange between us, our certifier, and a CW. This is a typical correspondence when DHS contacts you about a possible placement. Our initial commitment was for the weekend, so the kids would not have to stay in a hotel with a DHS worker. We were going to use the weekend to see if we could logistically keep them for an extended period.
The first e-mail is from our certifier to us, regarding a possible placement. This amount of information and this type of contact is typical for possible placements.
Continue reading “Possible Placements”
In most government agencies and specialized fields, acronyms are widely used, and industry specific definitions apply to many words. We will do our best to keep this page updated with frequently used acronyms, terms, and strange definitions.
Continue reading “Foster Care Acronyms and Definitions”