Fostering/Adoption - could anyone who has fostered/adopted tell me what criteria is needed in regards of?

Question

family home? I live with my daughter alone at the moment and any foster/adopted child would need to share a room with my daughter. It is a lovely room and we have a large amount of space/lovely garden etc but wondered if this would be a problem?

Have been thinking of doing this for a long time and I seem to remember the couple who were being assessed needed to have an additional/spare room?

Thanks all.

Answer 1

im not sure what you need if you are out side the uk but in the uk you have to be under the age of 45-50,you dont need to be married they do take single parent's. if you want a baby you cant smoke as they dont like that. you basically need a big enough home for another child  and they do check your back ground with the police. but if you want to go for it then good luck. my parents were foster parents for over 30 yrs and i was one of the kids they fostered but i was lucky enough for them to adopt me. go for it,its worth while give a child the love and surport they need.

Answer 2

How old is your daughter? - The assessing social worker would need to check with your daughter that she is happy to pursue this and take into account her age and s*x IE: if she was a teen and you wished to foster a teen boy this wouldn't be appropriate.

Under fostering regulations there is no reason if he property is deemed suiatbale and you and your daughter are assesed as appropriate that your culd not foster.

The fostering process takes around 6 months from beginning to end and the form f (assesing doccument) can feel quite intrusive at times.

The main things they wil look for are that you are able to provide a child with love, security and promote their wellbeing on all levels. THey will also look for what support there is for you (friends and family) etc...

It maybe an idea to contact your local fostering department to arrange a visit from a SW (they dont bite) who will talk you and your daughter through everything. You can back out at any stage or simply get the information and think about it.

Good luck in your furure as a foster carer

xx

Answer 3

i dont no the rules and regulations regarding fostering and adoption but i was fostered and had some really terrible foster parents one lot told us daily that if it was not for the money we would not be there all i can ask that if you get a child be kind and patient and loving the child coming to you is already going to be troubled and has being to h**l and back they need love stability and reassureance that you are not going to hurt them in any way shape or form i think you sound like a lovely person who could make a positive difference in a childs life and i wish you all the best for the future with fostering and adoption i truely dont think it matters weather you are single married co habiting or whatever as long as you can help a child that is all that metters but think carefully before you go into it there are some true horror stories out there of why kids are in care you will need a very strong personality to keep you going so good luck and be carefull i dont want to see you or your daughter get hurt or downhearted by the way the system treats some of the children in there care i really dont

Answer 4

Ok, the foster care process is reasonably standard in most places, there may be some monor differences, but not many. Firstly, the criteria is pretty open. You can be single, living together, married, etc. You are given a comprehensive criminal history check, and they ask about your income, but there aren't any actual income restraints. For adoption however, you do need to go a lot more indepth with your income info, as they need to see how you will suppor a child financially. You can own or rent your home, but there must be space for the child, and he or she must be able to have their own room.

There is no employment status or education level requirement, they recognise that raising children is about life skills, and most of their questions will focus around this.

Your home is checked for safety, such as medicines and poisons locked away, pets being child friendly, etc, pool fences, stair gates, etc.

They will talk to you about your own upbringing, your relationships with your family, your partner, friends and community. They will ask you about your parenting style, and give you some scenarios so you can tell them how you would handle children in a range of situations.

Usually, they come out to your house for a few interviews, and they're really not that bad! My social worker was lovely, and we ended up having a good chat most of the time! At the end of the assessment process, you have to attend some training classes, the length varies from place to place, but it's usually around a month. These are actually really useful, and they're more for giving you the information that you want, rather than real 'classes'. I enjoyed mine.

For me, the whole process from start to finish took around 9 months, but it really depends on the availability of resources, how desperate the need is, etc.

Oh, and I nearly forgot, there's an initial information session as well, to give you some general info on what it's all about.

I think that's everything, feel free to email me if you want to know more, or need any help.

Answer 5

You can go to:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/reslist...

and look for your state's listing so you can find out what the requirements are in your state.

In our state it's not a problem if the children share a room as long as they're the same gender and halfway close in age AND each have a separate bed.

Generally a foster family would need to have adequate space for an additional child, a safe environment for them (no health hazards and the foster family would have child abuse & neglect and criminal background checks done, the family would need to go through foster parent training classes, have a home visit & stuff like that.

I don't know of ANY state in our great nation that has enough foster families.  Bless you for wanting to help.  There is a vast shortage of foster and adoptive families & it's a terrible thing when they don't have enough homes for the children in care.

From my understanding no state has a requirement about owning rather than renting or about your marital status (if you're married you need to be married a certain amount of time to show stability that the child will need, but if you're single, I'm not aware of any issues there).

Go for it!

Answer 6

no that won't be a problem you will have to get another girl though because they don't allow the sexs to mix. you have to show that you have a bed already set up because sometimes they call you in the middle of the night and say a kid needs a home can they come to you if you don't have the bed you don't get the  kid. You don't need to be rich just show that you can support another child and you need to have a criminal background done.   When you foster you get a remibursment for care some poeple think you get all this money for the children depending on your state it is like 15-20 a day you get and you get it after the child has been in your home a month or so.   YOu have to attend classes to be certified and you have to have a fire inpsection and saftey inspection of your home.

Answer 7

generally it is preferred if the child can have its own room, obviously it would reduce the options of s*x and age of child you could foster or adopt if it would have to share.

If it is a large enough room and you can identify space for each child to have their seperate bits and pieces that would be a benefit.

Depends on the ages really, if you daughter was an older teenager then it would be unlikely she could share with a younger teen, as every 'adult' over 16 in the house would be police checked etc in their own right and generally and 'adult' would be unable to share with a minor.

Answer 8

I do believe they have to have their own bed but not sure about room. It may be different in each state or county

Answer 9

I'm not sure that I know the absolute answer to your question, but I would suggest speaking with the foster care agency (or Children & Youth Services) in your local area and ask what their regulations are.  I'm not sure if it differs from state to state, however, a friend of mine in PA, has two foster children.  The girl was adopted through foster care and has her own room.  The boy has not been adopted yet, but he shares a room with my friend's bio-child as they are close in age.  

Good luck to you.

Answer 10

No problem.  

A guy that I work with has just been refused, but it was due to health realted issues.  

Social services were not concerned that the new child would need to share a room with the first child.  There also would not have been as much space as you indicate as they needed to move the boiler out to the box room to make enough space for a second bed.

I think you may have ot adopt a girl though.