Milwaukee County Foster Care Changes Mtg 11/14/11

There is an opportunity for those of you in Southeastern Wisconsin to hear of the changes being made to Milwaukee County's foster care program effective January 1, 2012.  This meeting is being held on Monday, November 14, 6:30 PM at St. Aemilian-Lakeside/Capitol West Academy in Milwaukee. You can RSVP to Connecting Bridges.

Update

I had high hopes when I started this blog to be writing more frequently, say, bi-monthly?  So as life with a toddler goes, the time you find for yourself is little.  Make sure you have time for yourself so that you can be a better caregiver!

We have been granted TPR recently on Princess.  Most may say it was a long time coming.  Honestly, our time in the TPR process was rather short. We had 8 months from filing the petition to the motion being granted.  We are still in the appeal period, which is 30 days for Wisconsin.  If no appeals are made, we have our scheduled adoption hearing next year due to the holidays.

We also are updating our home study at this time to receive another placement.  We have been approached for one where no pre-placement visits will occur and the child will be in our home in December.  We shall see how it goes in our house as Princess has been our first and only foster care placement for over a year now.

I know we have been blessed in how our entire foster care experience has been.  I am hearing the "horror stories" and what the system needs repair with.  I am an active participant in the 2 foster care parents support groups in our area as I want to know as much as possible.  As a result of that, I am better informed of what changes will be happening in our area as of 01/01/12.  Remember, when you become a foster parent, not only are you changing someone else's life, but yours is forever changed, too. :)

Christians and Foster Care..Our Responsibility

I bet when you hear the word "missions" you immediately think overseas trip.  Would you believe that I am doing a mission right here in Wisconsin through my home, daily, as a foster parent? Missions doesn't have to happen on the other side of the world, it could be right in your home with that extra seat at the dinner table or an empty bed.  So I sat down and thought, do Christians know that we have a responsibility to take care of others without a thought?

Luke 10:27

He answered, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'."

God has called us to love Him first, then your neighbor as yourself.  So if that neighbor is in need of someone to take care of their children and mentor them, we Christians should be the first to stand up and say, "we can help!".

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

This reflects to me that no matter the circumstance, we are closer to God when we do what is on His heart.

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Children in foster care may still have their birth parents involved in their lives.  It is our job as foster parents to help them see what their best potential through God could be.

Mark 9:37

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Thinking back to the song, "Jesus loves the little children", just how each child matters to God!

James 1:22

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

It is great to have head knowledge of the Bible, but even better to go out and be a blessing to others through serving.

Matthew 25:34-40

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

We are serving God himself when we take in these children and their past.  Just think how blessed we are to have a roof over our head, running water, an abundance of food!  We need to be good stewards of these things and one way is to be a foster parent.

Proverbs 22:6

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

We can help these children learn to live a better life for when they either return home, become adopted or age out of the system.

James 2:17

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

This just reiterates what James 1:22 has to say.

Do you know that you may feel as though you are not impacting that child's life when they are in your home, but you really are.  They may go home or grow up somewhere else and reflect back on how they become who they are and remember you, the foster parent who taught them biblical and moral principals so that they may have eternal life with God in heaven!

All scriptures are in NIV.  The views expressed are solely my own opinions and I consulted the Bible for help. :)  Want to know more about foster parenting, contact me and I'll do my best to help!

Change of plans

We are currently in the T.P.R. phase with our placement.  Our next hearing is not for a couple of months.  "Princess" is a child we have had placement of since getting our Level 1 license just under one year ago.  This week we will have our monthly in-home visit from her OCM, Ongoing Case Manager.  Due to the age of our placement, the OCM visits her twice a month, once in the foster home and the other in her daycare/school environment.  We hope to get an update on our situation as there has been a possible change of plans. There are two ways a parent loses their rights to their biological child.  One way is involuntarily, meaning all sources to bring reunification to the child and parent have been exhausted and the home is not a safe place for the child to return to, so the court system deems the parent unfit and will terminate the rights for them.  The other way is voluntarily, where the biological parents choose to sever their rights to the child and that will allow for the child to be raised by someone else, whether a relative or an adoptive resource.  Whatever the outcome, we are blessed to have Princess in our lives and know that God always has her in His hands, just like you and me!

T.P.R.

I have been a foster parent for just under a year now and have had a foster child for the same amount of time.  Children in foster care will have an evaluation done every 6 months by the county's foster care system per A.S.F.A. law. This will determine if the child should be reunified with their birth family, live with relatives/kinship, or be placed in an adoptive home.  After 15 months in foster care, the system needs to determine which path is best for the child and proceed in that direction. One of those paths may be an adoptive home.  For that to happen, T.P.R. needs to occur.

In the foster care world, T.P.R. stands for Termination of Parental Rights.  Most of the time, it is to end the rights biological parents have to their child/children.  I can tell you first-hand it is an arduous process.  There are two phases in the T.P.R. hearing process.  The first is the fact-finding phase, a set of court hearings to make sure that all resources have been presented and exhausted for the biological parents to keep their child.  The second phase is the best-interest phase; simply put, what is the best interest for the child?  An adoptive resource would need to be identified for the child by this phase.  Adopting parent(s) are people that are willing to take the foster child as their own, legally responsible for them till 18 years of age.  The T.P.R. process is a very serious matter because we do not want to create orphans in society.  It can take months to come to a conclusion, all for the sake of the children.

Wow.

A dear friend of mine lost her 2 year old daughter suddenly.  She was a playmate to my foster daughter ever since I got Little One almost a year ago.  I knew of "R" when her mama and daddy first learned about her and flew to where she was almost 3 years ago.  She truly was placed in this family by God.  "R" was a sweet child with special needs and she made an impact on me!  I will miss her and remember her next week when she would have had her 3rd birthday here on earth.  Instead, she is having the best birthday party anyone could have, one with Jesus.

A better way?

As a new foster mama, I just wonder when is enough, enough with the foster care system.  I understand the need for foster parenting as I am currently helping to recruit for more foster families.  In the course of meeting with other foster/adoptive mamas, I have learned of an agency that is trying to come into the state of Wisconsin to help prevent kids from going into the foster care system called Safe Families.  I firmly believe in this organization that I am trying to help the Milwaukee Director help change the state laws for Wisconsin in regards to this matter.

Here is the history of Safe Families from their website:

Safe Families for Children provides a loving sanctuary where parents can safely and voluntarily place their children in times of need. Founded in 2002 by LYDIA Home Association, a Chicago based Christian social service agency, Safe Families for Children has partnered with the local church to grow to a network of over 1000 volunteer families serving as many as 1000 children and families last year alone.

Successfully established in more than 13 states, Safe Families partners with host agencies, local churches, ministries, as well as community and government agencies to intervene in the lives of children and families that would otherwise be forgotten. 

Of course there would be screening, background checks and a home study involved if you choose to be a host family.  You can find out more information about joining SFFC here.  Why not consider becoming a Safe Family and help care for children who may otherwise end up in foster care unnecessarily?

Foster Parenting in Your Future?

Here is a great article about 10 Things You Can Do Now to Be Ready To Do Foster Care Later. Thanks to Carrie Craft @ about.com for this article!

Adoption Resources of Wisconsin

If you have not already, check out Adoption Resources of Wisconsin, located in the Metro Milwaukee Area.  I highly recommend using their calendar to see what training resources are available to you.  Or check out their online library!

Northern & Western Wisconsinites!

Are a pre-adoptive or post-adoption family, regardless of where your kiddos came from?  Then check out this picnic happening Monday, June 20th in LaCrosse!

Waiting Children in Wisconsin

There are quite a few children waiting for their forever family right here in Wisconsin.  Click on these links and pray about if your home is the one they call home, forever.

Adoption Resources of Wisconsin

Heart Gallery of Wisconsin

Foster Parent Pre-Placement Training

Did you know that you could complete some of your foster parent training online?  Check it out here.  I firmly believe in getting as much education as possible, PRIOR to being placed with a child or children.  Yes, the need is great out there for foster parents, and each child is different.  We all know that children don't come with manuals.  So why not obtain as much information as possible, in the convenience of your home before being placed with children, and it counts towards your foster license?

TPR Hearing

This week I have had the privilege of sitting at a TPR hearing in Children's Court.  I often wondered what goes on in Children's Court that makes it different from a regular court setting.  It has been years since I have stepped inside any court room, so I was nervous.  I sat there, hearing the case and observing the room.  I couldn't imagine the participants in the case and what they were feeling.  A TPR (Termination of Parental Rights) hearing is a very serious matter.  It made me wonder, the decisions made in these rooms affect not just those in the case, but could potentially affect many other cases after them.

I know we will soon have a hearing in Children's Court for our foster child.  With my foster parent training and this experience, I can go in there with more confidence in the judicial system.  They don't see each case as just another file to look at because it is work, they see that a child or children are affected, but their families and extended families, and every one whose lives those children impact.  They make every reasonable effort to keep families together when possible and find adoptive resources when reunification is not possible.

This made me wonder what more I could learn in case I would like to become a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate).  A CASA may help many children in the foster care system feel heard.  Have you considered becoming a CASA?

The Summit

I apologize for the lack of posting on this blog over the last week.  I was attending an Orphan Care Summit in Kentucky to learn more about ways we can take care of the "fatherless", "broken-hearted" children around the world and in our backyards.

Here are a few things I walked away with:

• Be people connected to the Source, a gospel-fueled love for the orphans.  He pursued us when we were orphans of sin.
• God cares about how we respond to the plight of the orphans.  We are to be the body of Christ and step in, get off of the bleachers and on to the field.
• How can local churches make a difference?
• Recruitment for foster/adoptive families
• Support foster/adoptive families
• Mentoring and Tutoring programs
• Prayer vigils
• Kinship family support
• Respite care providers

I loved this closing statement on the final night.  "Not where is God?  Where are God's people?"  So how can you make a difference in the life of just one child?

Books we found @ library sale!

Since our placement is of another race than ours, we are making it a point to have books to raise self-image to be a positive thing.

Here are the 3 books we got at library sale for a total of $1.25!

You Be Me, I'll Be You by Pili Mandelbaum

What Kind of Family Do You Have? by Gretchen Super

Skin Again by Bell Hooks

Do you have any books you recommend?

DYK?

Did you know?

• Over 5,100 foster homes across the state care for almost 8,000 foster children each year in the state of Wisconsin?1  At any given time, 2,200 children are in foster care in Milwaukee County.2
• There are 8,109 children in foster care in Wisconsin; 1,280 of these children are waiting for adoptive families.3
• The average length of time to get a foster license is 90 days.

So what is keeping you from becoming a foster parent or adopting from foster care?

1 - http://dcf.wi.gov/children/foster/
2 - http://www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/43273/router.asp
3 - http://www.adoptuskids.org/resourcecenter/rrtpackets/wisconsin.aspx

Week of 5/1-5/7 Events

Here are some foster care related events happening during the week of May 1 - May 7:

Friday, May 6 - Foster Care Prayer Vigil @ Family Chapel in Pewaukee, 6 PM

Saturday, May 7 - Home Run & Walk 5K/3K for Foster Care @ Miller Park in Milwaukee, 7 AM


If you have an event you would like posted, contact me.

National Foster Care Month

Some resources for National Foster Care Month:

FosterCareMonth.org

FosterParentsRock.org

Where to start...

So you are wondering if foster care parenting is for you.  Well you can start by looking at information based on the county you live in.  Click on this link and then the county you live in for contact information to get you started.

Waiting Children in WI

I thought I would share links of children waiting to be adopted from foster care in the state of WI.  If you have any questions on these children, please make the appropriate connection through the contacts listed on those websites.

Adoption Resources of Wisconsin

Heart Gallery of Wisconsin

AdoptUsKids.org