I hope this is ok to post here. Excuse the length but this is MY story, and there’s no one else to tell it to. I want to be heard, please. Call me ‘Dave’. I’m 37 years old, I play bass guitar, I box, and I enjoy a moderately successful career in finance. While I’m not wealthy, I’m quite comfortable and proud of my craft – especially given that I had aged out of a residential institution at 18 years old with an 8th grade education. I love the man I’ve become and what I’ve accomplished – but I am still waiting for someone to return my heart to me and to ease the vacuum in my chest cavity. Oblig ..read more

Need advice because my life is falling apart and I have absolutely no one to go to for solid advice. I’m married with 4 children (three teens and a 1 year old) and CPS just place my two siblings (older children) in my care under an emergency order. They said there’s a high chance they may be placed permanently and we are expected to take them. I want to take them! There is zero hesitation from me. My kids and husband however are having a hard time adjusting. With 6 kids in the house, my teens are stressed about having space and don’t understand why things have to change so much. My husband is ..read more

Hi I attended an informational session today with 4 foster parents and three caseworkers! It was amazing! They really encouraged us to go ahead because there is never a perfect time to become foster parents. They were really impressed with how young we are and said they truly needed more young couples willing to foster. They put a lot of my concerns at ease, and they even encouraged us to take on teens! I feel in my heart that I should be open to teenagers, but I was very hesitant because of how young I am. We came home and immediately filled out our application, we are over the moon! Thank y ..read more

Me (23f) and my boyfriend (28m) have been together for four years. We rent a three bedroom apartment and we both have stable jobs with a stable income. I am a teacher, he is the GM of a restaurant. I grew up and aged out of care. We both really really want kids and have been trying to conceive for over a year. I have PCOS and some other health issues and we have a very low chance of conceiving naturally. I have always known I wanted to foster, and since educating him on it he does too. We are pretty stable now, and I don’t know if there is truly a “perfect” time to become foster parents. Shou ..read more

Hello, I am moving to Colorado Springs this summer. I have been licensed in my current state for about five years. Here licensure is just directly through the Department of Family Services. I have been looking into agencies in Colorado and am a bit overwhelmed. Does anyone by chance live in the Springs and could provide some insight about agencies to contact or stay away from? Or generally their experience with fostering in Colorado Springs? Thanks! submitted by /u/HoardingHeartache [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

We are expecting a foster placement in the near future, but we have not officially been contacted about a placement. I saw that New York requests employees give a 30 day notice when applying for PFL, but we ourselves will likely not be given that notice. Do I request the leave now with a best guess? Do I wait until I get contacted about a placement, even if that will be substantially less than the 30 day notice? Any tips or experience is greatly appreciated! submitted by /u/SnowmanAi [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I aged out many years ago (I’m 24 now), and am now working and going to school and in general talking about family is very common small talk (where did you grow up? do your parents still live there? are you going home for the holidays?) And I never know what to say, if I answer honestly I feel like I’m trauma dumping, but if I try and lie I feel like I come across as awkward. I’m just wondering how everyone else handles these kinds of situations? submitted by /u/ruohomet [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

Long story short our nephew (12 yr) was removed from the care of my sister in law and my mother in law asked if we can request he be placed with us. We are completely fine with him living with us but he is very defiant so I want to establish that our home does have rules and that there are boundaries. How can I go about communicating these expectations to him. The rules are things such as we only watch age appropriate content and listen to age appropriate music. We have a set bed time and help with chores etc. submitted by /u/Living_An_Adventure [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

Hello, Wondering if anyone could share what it’s like doing respite care for babies? Did your placements have daycare? How did you make arrangements with work (can you use FMLA time for something that short)? How long do placements usually stay? Also, generally speaking how often do you get calls to provide respite? Thank you! submitted by /u/Financial-Offer9671 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I was a foster dad till I was arrested for domestic assault. I through a small table at my wife when I was on sleeping meds. I was charged with 3 counts of assault. I am now on probation for the next 18 months. We had a foster child with us that we had an intent to adopt him. I had a great relanship with the foster child. They closed our foster lic beucasue of my arrest. What are the chances of winning the appeal? Our agency was against the adoption from the begging. We are just foster parents to the child. We have the hearing this week coming. Is there a chance we can over turn this decison ..read more