Getting started with foster care || Texas Baptists

November 15th, 2012 at 11:08 am

Foster parenting is hard work, but the reward of making a difference in the life of child can make it worth all of the effort. It?s not for everyone, but if you want to provide a home for a child in need, there is a clear path to making it happen.

Let?s say you?ve been considering fostering a child. Maybe you have friends who are foster parents. Maybe there?s a hole in your life and your heart that you want to fill. Maybe friends at church told you about their foster care experience. Now ? how do you become a foster parent?

Getting started is a three-step process.

First, pray about it. Ask God if it is right for you and your family. Ask Him to search your heart and give you strength, direction and patience.

Second, talk about it with your spouse and other family members. Foster parenting will involve the entire family, so it?s only right that they all be on board with the idea.

Third, attend an orientation meeting at a Christian foster care agency like STARRY, where you can have your questions answered and learn about the process of becoming a foster or adoptive parent.

Then, if you decide to become a foster parent, you will need to be licensed by the state. Licensing includes training (both in a classroom setting and online), background checks and home inspections. Fortunately, STARRY will be at your side as you work your way through the licensing process.

You will be asked to fill out a detailed application, required by Texas Child Protective Services, seeking information about your family, work background and home life. You also will be required to pass a background check.

At STARRY, during the course of your foster care training STARRY case managers will lead you through a unique Bible-based classroom study?our BRIDGE curriculum?for 19 hours over the course of a month. At the same time, you also will be asked to participate in online training sessions in order to help prepare you for the responsibility of foster parenting.

The final step before licensing is the home study, an interview conducted with all of the family members to discuss your backgrounds, assess your current family life, inspect your home and review the reasons why you want to be foster and/or adoptive parents.

The most time-consuming aspects of licensing are elements that are out of the control of either the foster care agency or the prospective foster parents, such as health inspections, fire inspections and background checks.

Often the biggest fear of a foster parent is becoming attached to a child, only to have him or her removed from their care and be reunited with the birth parents. Foster parents must know that they can always count on a strong support group of caring staff at STARRY or at the agency where they chose to partner, as well as a strong community of other foster parents who can pray for them, encourage them, and offer support in difficult times.

Foster parenting is highly rewarding, but foster parents need to enter the process fully aware, with clear expectations and a firm grasp of the realities that come with becoming licensed and subject to all of the standards of the state CPS system.

Finally, introducing into your home a small stranger ? who may come with emotional or behavioral issues because his or her previous family experiences ? will require unconditional love, enormous patience and faithful prayer. Are you and your family prepared for that?

If you are, the fostering experience can be the hardest work you?ll ever love. Ask any foster parent and they will tell you that the rewards far outweigh the risks and inconveniences. Getting that first hug from a foster child is an incomparable joy.

At STARRY, which is based in Round Rock and provides foster and adoption services in Central Texas, our team of foster care professionals can help you make a decision whether foster parenting is right for you. Once you are licensed, we will partner with you to help you navigate the system, clear hurdles that might arise and answer any questions that come up.

If you think you might be interested in foster parenting, call STARRY at (512) 246-4288 and let?s talk about it.

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Stefanie Miller is the Foster Care Coordinator at STARRY Foster Care and Adoption in Round Rock. STARRY?s goal is to be a beacon of light for children, youth and families in the midst of crisis, no matter how big or small. You can reach Stefanie at stefanie.miller@starryonline.org. STARRY is part of the Children At Heart Ministries family.

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Source: http://texasbaptists.org/2012/11/getting-started-with-foster-care/

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