November 6, 2012.  The day we became licensed as a family foster home.  Wow!  After dropping the kids at a wonderful friends' home, we headed to the agency office to review our home study for any potential errors, and sign contracts.  

This is the fourth home study report about ourselves we have read, and they are always hilarious.  Really, it's so funny to read what the social worker gleaned from a few visits with you, and to see how they incorporate all the 'required' elements.  Social workers and physicians, alike, use the phrases "well groomed" and "nicely dressed" as ways of saying you aren't dirty and have the ability to keep a child relatively clean as it pertains to their health.  It's an important point, but it always makes me laugh.  I'm thinking, "You've never shown up at my house unannounced at 10am when I don't have to be anywhere until 12:30, have you?"  LOL!  We had a few great laughs as we spent 40 minutes reading and correcting typos, which branch of the military my father served through, spellings of family member's names, correct abbreviation for my home state, oh, and our vitals.  Yes, our heights, weights, colorings, etc. were switched.  I'm sure someone was looking at it thinking, wow, this woman is inches taller and pounds heavier than her husband and trying to picture us stretched or shrunk.  A funny sight came to mind for sure.

That complete, our home supervisor will make the changes, print out a final copy and file the final copy with DHS (who already has the unedited version).  I'm sure they'll get us a copy as well, for the funny file.  It's fun to show the kids what went on during the path to them.

We signed an education plan stating we will complete 20 hours of foster care specific training per year.  Our agency has 2 hours per month of education groups we can attend, so that's 24 if you can be there each month - child care provided.  (You're glad I helped you with that math, aren't you :-).  You can also do online training for a small fee at a specific website or do some approved reading.

Back to pick up the kids and home to cheer and cry over various election results.  Quite a day!

Nothing new to report.  Really.  Nothing.  It's been 12 days since our last class.  We're just waiting for our home study writer to call and set up a time for interviews and home inspections.  Waiting.  Waiting.  Then, when they call, I'm sure I'll be in a momentary panic trying to obtain a spotless house!

We are looking for another crib - a non-drop-side.  One that we had is not going to work, although, I'm thinking that the four side pieces may make a really neat garden trellis.  I'll see if someone can use them in a fabulous garden display.

Wow!  What a month it has been.  We not only made it through, but enjoyed, eight nights of class, three hours each.  In addition to the paperwork previously listed, there were five more packets of Q&A, several additional forms, state rules and regs to read word-for-word, and more.  We have one more class - a Friday evening / all day Saturday class.  We will also begin our family interviews and home study this month.  If all goes well, we will be licensed as a family foster care home by early or mid October.

There is so much to share from our wonderful classes, but it may need to sink in a while longer.  If you've been to a professional continuing education course or a retreat of some sort, you know the feeling - so many amazing things to share with everyone at home, but you somehow don't even know where to start.  It will come in pieces, I'm sure.

One of the beautiful things about the classes is that our own children were able to attend with us, and spend the hours with other children and great staff playing and building their own friendships.  They are now very at home in our agency's building and really enjoy being there.  In our state, there is privatization of foster care, meaning that the state contracts not just directly with individuals, but with private agencies, who then contract with the foster families.  The wonderful thing about this is that our agency also employs our home supervisors, and provides significant support to the foster families in the form of training, support groups, family activities, and more.  This makes for better families and better homes for the kids.  Our agency also has a factory that makes it's own currency and items which can be purchased with this currency.  The names, the store, and everything about it are wacky and fun.  Kids earn this currency when in the building for any activities, for helping out in a myriad of ways, or through incentive programs.  They can then purchase items at the store.  The original kids of foster families are also included, which is fabulous.  These children may or may not be as excited as their parents to welcome new children to their home, give up half of their room or closet, or deal with the anxiety of the unknown.  A little prize always increases the fun factor.

This weekend, we'll be preparing our home for the home study - a bit more cleaning and organizing (although I know it won't be completely done ... does anyone else's spice cabinet, refrigerator, or coat closet just explode into complete disorder on a regular basis?  Second law of thermodynamics, anyone?) Among other things, Hubby will be adding the infamous child safety locks to all kitchen and bath cabinetry, while I'll be working on making the grandparent guest bed *not* look like it's four feet off the ground after we added risers underneath in efforts to find more storage space. (Suggestions?) The goal is to be at least comfortable with where things are (figuratively and literally) by the end of the weekend.  I'll have to make a list of everything we did to prepare the home once we're done.  (I like lists.  Did you notice?)  Have  a fabulous Labor Day weekend, and don't forget to show thanks for the opportunity to labor for our families and for the kingdom.