Im interested in becoming a foster parent can anyone tell me the pros and cons and can i give a certain?

description of what im looking for? like under the age of 5 and a certain race or girl or boy?? and how much would i get per child? i live in tennessee...Im interested in becoming a foster parent can anyone tell me the pros and cons and can i give a certain?
Hi Samantha





Try re-posting this question in the adoption section. There are several ';regulars'; on that section that are, or have been, foster parents.





Good luck.Im interested in becoming a foster parent can anyone tell me the pros and cons and can i give a certain?
Yes, you can give a certain description of what you're looking for. You'll have to take a federally mandated 30-hour class first. Part of that class is to get you to examine what you are best suited for or can realistically handle (age, gender, race, special needs, behavioral issues, etc.). The class will teach you something about the rules of fostering, the behaviors you are likely to deal with, and more. They also use the class to weed out people who shouldn't be foster parents or who are just in it for the money.





The amount of money you received depends on your state and the age of the child. They get Medicaid to cover medical expenses. If the child is under 5, they get WIC coupons to help pay for things like formula or milk, cereal, and other things. You'll get payment from the state to cover clothing and such for the child.





Cons? You'll learn how terribly broken our system is. You'll be frustrated by case workers who are over-loaded with cases and can't put in the time they should. You'll be shocked at cases where children are put back into what seem to be clearly dangerous situations. You'll be horrified at the things that you learn that people can do to children. You'll lose a lot of privacy as social workers, therapists, and others traipse in and out of your home regularly, dig into your finances and every aspect of your life. You'll be busier, with lots of doctors' visits, therapists' visits, social workers' visits (some planned and some unannounced). You'll likely deal with children who are confused when the court arranges visits with family and who act out because of it. You'll find that lack of communication is a big problem in the system. You'll be likely to lose sleep and have to clean up bigger messes and deal with worse behavior than you'd see in your own children. You'll deal with hurting, angry children who are afraid to get too close.....


but you will find that you can slowly win them over and teach them to trust and love if you have them in your home for long enough. But the biggest con is that you'll grow to love children who may be sent back home or to another home; your heart will feel broken (but you'll have the knowledge that you helped them for a while to get you through it all)....





Pros? You'll be helping a child. You'll feel good about yourself for helping out someone vulnerable and in need. You'll see the children grow physically and emotionally; you'll likely see them get healthier and happier--though it may take a long time to recover. You'll have an impact on the children for the rest of their lives, even if they are only with you a short time and are too young to remember any details of the time spent with you.





The first step is to call around and find an agency that licenses foster homes and find out when they'll be having their next set of classes....
omgsh yay! good for you!





yes, you can choose what age range, sex and so much more! go on the DCF website, they will give you all of your information.





My fosterbrother was 17 when we fostered him, he got a 1000 check each month but part of it went to a plan, other money was not allowed to be taken out until he was 18. A percentage of the money he got went towards doc appt. You do not get paid, however many parents do use the childs money with out consent.





Fostering a child is costly on your part, however you can ask for refunds, like if you take the child to a doctor, you can make sure they have medicade, thats their own insurance paid by the government. (you are still paying through taxes)





you also have to pay for the classes it takes to get certified. Which rounded up to be around 300 $. However, we took more classes just for self purposes.





Some of the children in DCF have been mentally titled (such as depressed, bipolar, blah blah) so make sure you do research on the child, or put in ur resume you do not want such a cause, for examample, Bipolar).





You will have a person come to your home out of the blue once in a few months just to check up on things, which i found very agrivating because of when they would come (usually late in the day so you would be home [around 8ish])





People who have fostered can adopt easier.





The child leaves after such a period of time, unless you adopt them.


You do get attatched, VERY. Do not foster if you cant afford a child for the rest of your life.











I wish you the best of luck!