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Four Hours

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.

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Possible Placements

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.

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The Certification Process – Pt. 2

Congratulations on completing your 24-hours of Foundations Training for Foster Care!

Here is your Certificate!

So now we are foster parents, right?!?!?!?! We can begin to help children in need? Right?

Nope. Continue reading “The Certification Process – Pt. 2”

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The Certification Process – Pt. 1

As mentioned in What is this blog, this site is not going to serve as a “How To Be A Foster Parent” blog, or writings on how to become a Foster Parent.  For details on how to do this, your local agency should be your go to. For us, Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) is our go to, and they have information listed HERE. That being said, this series of posts details both the requirements we had to meet, as well as our experience meeting those requirements.

This post will be more about our experience navigating the process to become certified.  We are Certified Non-Relative Foster Care Providers AKA Foster Parents in Oregon.  Our experience is limited to Oregon and and we are aware that the process may be significantly different outside of Oregon. However, no matter where you live, we think our experience, the emotions, the anxiety, the excitement, the uncertainty will resonate, so we thought we would share our journey. Continue reading “The Certification Process – Pt. 1”

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What Is This Blog?

This is a place for us to document our journey as foster parents in Oregon.  The idea for the blog came to us after we realized that as brand new parents, we were staying up far too late after our kiddos went to bed.  We were constantly staying up talking about all of the thoughts we were having as we become more and more ingrained in the Foster Care System.  It felt like nearly every day, we encountered a new experience, oftentimes experiences that are unique to foster parents, but also, experiences relevant to all parents, and experiences relevant to all humans who care about other humans.

As we stayed up too late talking, knowing that our kids would wake us up soon, far before our alarm clocks would go off to make it to work on time, we knew that the conversations we were having were much more important than sleep.  We thought that the conversations would slowly taper off over the coming weeks. Eventually, we assumed that fostering children would be our “new normal”, and we could get back to watching our shows on Netflix and going to bed at a decent hour.  Instead, the longer we were caring for children, the more we interacted with DHS, family, friends, bio-parents, lawyers, CASAs, judges, etc., the more we realized that these conversations were going to continue.
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Who Are We? – Foster Parents

Aaron and Jewell were partners first, and now, together, are foster parents. This blog documents their journey from the beginning to now.

Aaron

As you read this, Aaron is 31, professionally a Civil Engineer, and personally a foster parent, no a parent .  Aaron was raised in Portland, Oregon.  Aaron attended Portland Public Schools through high school, and graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Civil Engineering.  He loves Portland and all it has to offer. He has a passion for soccer, including supporting The Portland Timbers, playing on multiple soccer teams, and watching European soccer early in the mornings on weekends.  When not working or doing something related to soccer, Aaron enjoys running, hiking, biking and weight lifting, which has the benefit to allow him to sample delicious IPAs at the wonderful breweries in Oregon.  Aaron was raised by his Mom and Dad in Northeast Portland, and has a brother, 7-years younger than him. His Mom is a teacher, his Dad is an entrepreneur and business owner, while his brother is a Mechanical Engineering.

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Foster Care Acronyms and Definitions

Acronyms and Definitions

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.

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