What is Family Foster Care?
Family foster care offers a temporary home for a child whose parents are having
a crisis. Whenever possible, children who must be removed from their families
are places in a foster home in their own neighborhood. The goal of family foster
care is to provide a safe, nurturing place for children to live until they can
be reunited with their own families, placed with relatives, or adopted.
Are You Foster Parent Material?
There are some questions for you to consider before you decide whether or not
you want to be a foster parent. Taking a child into your home and your family
is a very important decision, and the following questions are designed to help
you make the right decision for you.
HOW WILL MY LIFESTYLE CHANGE IF I BECOME A FOSTER
PARENT?
- What goals do I have for my life? What is important to me?
- Do I have the time and energy to care for a foster child?
- What age child will realistically be best for my family?
- Am I ready to give up some of my freedom, or arrange my lifestyle to
include a child?
- Will I be willing to spend my time at home more, and socialize less?
- Can I afford my own expenses, knowing that compensation for having a
foster child will be only enough for the child's needs?
- How will a child fit into my neighborhood?
- How will being a foster parent change how I want to grow and develop?
- How much time am I willing to commit to a child?
- Am I willing and able to take a child to counseling sessions, doctor's
appointments, court hearings and other regular appointments?
- Am I willing to attend counseling sessions with the child?
HOW CAN I BENEFIT FROM BEING A FOSTER PARENT?
- Do I like doing things with children? Do I like activities that children
could do also?
- Do I want a child to be "Like me?" Should he/she call me Mom or Dad?
- How will I view a child's different values and ideas? Will I attempt to
get the child to accept my values?
- Do I want a boy or girl foster child? Do I want one, or more? How about
brothers or sisters? Teenagers? What ages?
- Do I want acceptance or gratitude from a foster child?
- Why do I really want to take a foster child into my home?
WHAT DO I KNOW ABOUT RAISING A CHILD?
- Do I like children? Will I be able to put up with the noise and confusion?
- How do I deal with my own frustration and anger? How do I handle other
people's anger and frustration?
- How easy is it for me to tell others what I want or need or what I expect
from them?
- How will I set my rules and enforce them?
- Am I able to give a child the love he/she needs? Is it easy for me to show love?
- What is discipline to me? Am I open to new ideas?
- What will I do if a child doesn't cooperate with me, or refuses to follow
my rules?
- Can I keep the information that I learn about a child confidential?
HOW DOES MY FAMILY FEEL ABOUT BEING A FOSTER FAMILY?
- Does my partner also want to share his/her life with a foster child? How
about my own children?
- Have we discussed fostering as a family?
- Are we secure and stable enough to add a foster child to our family? Will
this cause undue stress?
- Are we both ready to give the time and energy to a child, or will one of
us invest more in a child than the other? Can we be a team?
- Could we share our love with a child without other family members becoming
jealous?
- How will a child fit into our religious life? Are we willing to allow that
child to pursue his/her own beliefs, or to choose not to attend church?
- How will my children accept another child into their lives? Do they want
to share their rooms, toys, friends, and parents with another child?
- How will I feel about a child being removed from my home?
- How do I feel about the child's birth parents and the problems they may have?
- Am I able to understand that a child still loves his/her parents and that
I should not interfere with this relationship?
- What does my family have to offer a child who needs a good, stable, loving home?
- Which of these questions do we need to discuss more thoroughly before making
a decision?
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