Foster care/adoption?

Question

I just graduated high school and i've been looking into all different kinds of options. but i think i want to do this: Foster Parent: You could help children before they are adopted and provide a safe, loving home they can live in until they go back to their famiies or are adopted. What would this be called? Do you know any other kind of postions that deal with foster care or adoption. I was also thinking about doing foster care adoption.. but what filed? I want to place kids to a good home, but if they are adoptable i want to place them with parents. Do you know what this job title would be called? All i really know is that I want to deal with foster care and adoption, but im not sure which field to go into.. help me? I want to go into something that wont require too much college, but make okay money. Could i place kids and help parents adopt? ahhh... i just need ideas.. and the what the postions are called.... ( i dont want to be a social worker or a case worker)

Answer 1

Hi Stinaaa,

If you want to place children in foster care and adoptive homes...AND you want to do it without much college...AND you want to make "okay money"...AND you DON'T want to be a social worker or caseworker...

I'm afraid you're out of luck.

That's what the person who does foster care work is called.  A "caseworker".  The title social worker has to do with the kind of education you have.  It's not a job, it's a field/college major.

I am a social worker (with 6+ years of college) and a master's degree.  I have been a "caseworker".  I've been a "student advisor".  In the job I have right now, my title is "counselor".  

In some states, you can be licensed as a social worker (of a particular type) with a bachelor's degree (4 years of college).  In most places, you have to have a master's degree plus many, many hours of work under the supervision of someone who is already licensed.  In different places, the number of hours for licensure can be as little as 400 or as many as 2,000 (that's about one full year of full-time work).

Social worker with a bachelor's degree = SSW, social service worker.  This kind of license allows for a huge variety of work but you could not go into private practice counseling nor could you bill any insurance for your work.  Your agency/company might be able to, but not the SSW, personally.

Social worker with a master's degree + required hours = LCSW, licensed clinical social worker.  This kind of license allows for all the types of work that a SSW can do PLUS many others.  With an LCSW you could do private practice and bill insurance (whether in private practice, in a public or private organization, or a public or private facility).

If you really want to help children and families, by all means look into it.  Please trust me when I tell you, though, it's not a job to do for the money.  It will NOT (in almost any place in the US at least) support more than two people without another source of income.  In some places, not EVEN two.

This will probably sound like I'm patronizing you, but your question sounds more like a rose-colored fantasy than a serious intention for your future.  I'm only saying this because of all the "conditions" you added in -- not much college...okay money...don't want to be a social worker...

Sweetie, the people that do the job you describe ARE social workers -- sorry.  You won't get the job without the training.  You can only get the training in college and majoring in social work.

Good luck!

Answer 2

What you are describing is really a social worker - that's what they do.  You don't have to be a state employee social worker, but a private social worker that does home studies and counsels adoptive families both before and after the adoption.  You have to go to college and get a degree plus additional studies for the license.

Foster parents don't have much say in children's placement if adopted. FYI - the goal of the foster system is reunification with birth families. Foster parents get a stipend from the state for every day the child is in their care, but it doesn't begin to cover the actual expenses of the child so it cannot be considered a job.

Contact your state's foster care system (each state calls it something a little different - I know Kansas is Social Rehabilitation Services (SRS)and Missouri is Dept. of Family Services (DFS)) so you may have to do some checking to find the right person to talk to, but they are probably your best resource.

Answer 3

Foster parenting isn't a job .  The check you get does not cover the expenses of raising a child (although you might be able to look into therapeutic foster care, which does pay, but it's a VERY small amount - not enough to live on).  If you want to work with foster kids, you'll have to be a case worker, and if you want to work for an adoption agency (please, please don't!) you'll have to be a social worker.  You can volunteer as a mentor (big sister) or advocate (CASA), or something to that effect.  I'm not sure if CASA's or GAL's get paid, but it's something to look into.

Like LT said, it's not a job you work at for the money.  I've been in social services for about 10 years, and I actually took a $2/hour pay CUT right after I got my degree (but that's because I moved to a more depressed area of the state - it took me 4 years to get back to my former pay rate, and almost 6 years to surpass it...if I had stayed where I was, I would have stayed at the same pay rate and slowly moved up).  Working in social services of any kind, you're probably going to be eating a lot of mac and cheese.  :-)

Best of luck!

Answer 4

Ah, normally the people that work with Foster children are social workers or case workers.  Many have college degrees and some have masters degrees.  But they don't make very much money.  They do not do it for the money.

I suggest you look for another career..because working with foster kids won't make you any money.  Even if you were to be a child psychologist, you would have to accept Medicaid which does not reimburse **** for $$.

Working with that population is not exactly about money...and while I agree there should be more pay for social service workers, the government does not care.  So, the money will always suck.