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!
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!
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