I REALLY need help on foster care in Texas. (Foster Children help me!!)Please?Easy 10 Points!!!?

Question

I need all the information I can get. I am trying ato convince my parents to began foster care with a 14 year old girl but I have no information to tell them!! The internet isn't really helping and this is a last resort. HELP!!! I need to know about money, some pl;aces where you could get the children and other things. Thanks in advance for any information!

Answer 1

First thing, foster parenting is a serious committment.  It should be something the parents WANT to do.  Basically they are taking a child that has emotional problems (abused, sexually active, discipline problems, etc) into their home, exposing the problems to their own children, with little support from a social worker and taking on all the responsibilities of raising the child.  It's not such a "I'm saving the child" experience and the child will love me for it.  Most of these teenagers are kicked out of their home for running away from home, using alchohol and drugs, not following rules, school problems, pregnancy, etc.  They are street kids and they are tough.  They won't move in to your house and be a best friend for you.  They will lie to get what they want, they will steal from you, they will be jealous and spiteful, they will manipulate you any way they can to get their way, they will cause problems with your friends, etc.  

When a child is considered to be removed from their families, the grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc are considered first.  If the child is a "good kid", a family member will take them in first instead of going to foster care.  If no family member will take them in, it's because they know the child has problems and will not take them in.  

Becoming a foster parent takes time.  The parents have to do a 6 week training class, have background checks done, a home evaluation is done, etc.  There is not a "pay".  The state re-imburses the parents a month after for the food, personal items, and shelter.  It usually does not cover all the costs that was paid out for the month.  The foster parents are responsible for signing them up at school, bringing them to counseling sessions and visitations with the natural parents, etc.  They get a seperate check every few months to buy the child a few pieces of cothes.  

If your parents are considering doing this, they can contact your local Department of Social Services or Department of Children Services.  

All that said, let me tell you that I was a foster parent for about 15 years.  I took in teenage girls from 12-17 years old.  All of them had problems(parents kicked one out for being pregnant, one for having s*x with her brother, one for threatening to kill her sister, one for anger problems leading to fighting with family and getting kicked out of school, one for running away from home all the time and staying out all night and not listening to parents, etc.)  

My daughter was constantly bullied and threatened by the foster kids. They were jealous of her because she was loved by me and our family and she had a good life.   They had a different set of friends and rarely got along like "sisters" should.  

Being a foster family is tough.  You have to have a lot of patience, expect it to be a very bumpy road and it's usually done with very little support from the social workers.  

I did it because I liked working with the kids.  Trying to steer them in the right directions, etc.  But looking back on it, I'm not sure if the negative impacts on my own daughter was worth it.  She kind of resents me for doing it and would never do it now that she is a parent herself.   It is a lot of hard work.