There are several different types of resource homes that deal with helping foster children.
Foster/ Therapeutic Homes:
Foster care is a temporary service for a child and is a valuable service for children who have been removed from the care of their parents due to child abuse or neglect. Cherokee Nation is in great need of foster parents for our children, families who can open their homes and hearts to children who have been abused or neglected and who want to make positive change in the life of a child.
These are homes that have the goal of returning the children to their original homes/parents or a relative.
Top Priority: Providing children with a safe, loving, and understanding place until reunification can occur.
Group Home/ Shelter:
This is a Therapeutic home that houses several children. There are ranch homes where it's a group thing and each house on the ranch houses anywhere from 5-12 children of the system with one set of parents. In a shelter it is much the same only usually the parents don't usually live there permanently and can switch adults often. This is much like the Orphan places you see on TV, only they are not dirty workhouses like Orphan Annie. They are just homes, with lots of children and the only reason they are a necessity is because there aren't enough Foster Homes for the need.
Respite / Emergency Care Homes:
These are homes who volunteer to take children on an emergency basis or short term. Some times this means if a child is taken in the middle of the night these are the homes they first call to get the child somewhere safe for the time being until paperwork can be processed. Also, if a foster home has a family reunion they are going to but cannot take the foster children along or need a weekend break, these respite homes provide weekends off and are much appreciated.
There are different ways of calling these and a few agencies/states have other options but these are the basics you'll find everywhere.
There are two ways you can adopt out of the foster care system.
1. Foster-Adopt
This is where you take a child whose right have not yet been taken, or given up. The case worker may tell you that you have a good chance in adopting this child for whatever reason, but the fact remains that they are not yet available for adoption. You must then wait for them to become available. This is where you hear the horror stories of children being taken away from their homes and given back to the parents, grandparents, etc. This is where you must know that the child is not yours yet and there is no guarantee that he/she will ever be yours. This requires the most trust in God that his plan is sovereign. Also, this is where you can be a foster parent, fall in love, and eventually end up adopting the child you've been caring for.
3. Adopt out of Foster Care
Adoption our of foster care requires more caution on the parents parts. This is where you go into this ONLY wanting a child/children that have been taken permanently from BOTH parents, and all other possible guardians have signed over their rights. It's also smart to make sure that the state is willing to turn over their rights to the child prior to meeting (sounds weird but it does happen that they refuse every now and then). OR this may be where the birth mother has given over rights rather than had them taken. It's best to wait until 6 months after she's signed because she has 6 months to change her mind, AND all other guardians have signed over rights as well.
The child only comes into your household with every intention of adoption and being yours forever.
I will write another post with thoughts, and warnings for anyone willing to go this route because there are some secrets to protecting yourselves from the hurt the system can cause.
This is also the route we are going. Luckily we had the opportunity to be foster parents years ago and learned quite a bit about our lovely system, good and bad. It stuck and so we have a few tricks up our sleeves to make sure things go as smoothly as possible. Of course we are not in control so in no way am I saying hiccups can't occur, I am most aware that they can and praying they do not. But, I feel there's some info ppl do not know about and should so anything I can do to help encourage ppl to help orphans find a home.
that was amazing!
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