So we had our first home study last night. We were pretty nervous but our Social Worker is amazing! She was helpful, very encouraging and excited for us — which was definitely an affirming step in this Foster/Adoption process. Even more encouraging, she’ll be with us as long as we’re licensed as Foster Parents — big relief.
We are SURE that we’ve only learned less than 1% of everything we need to know, but we are excited. We also learned that once some basics are done, fingerprinting, background checks, etc., we can be signed up to provide respite care! Respite Care is temporary care for Foster Families. For example, say a Foster Couple needs a break for a weekend just to get away, we could step in and provide care for the weekend, Respite Care. We didn’t know this was an option for us so quickly — needless to say, we were thrilled!
Along with some paperwork last night, and a walk-through of our home we also got confirmation of some things we need to do at home to be ‘ready’.
- Fire Extinguisher (at least 5lbs) — clearly we needed this before… haha.
- Baby Gate for the Basement Stairs since they’re open to the kitchen, might be something I make, we shall see if there are rules about that…
- Carbon Monoxide Detector — for some weird reason ours is in the basement, but we need one in the kitchen!
- Bunk Beds — we have full-sized beds in both spare bedrooms, but converting one bedroom to a more kid-friendly space would be great, not only for welcoming the kids, but for practicality as well. So I am on the hunt for a good deal. I could probably build them, but my mother advised against it — haha! In addition we’ll need to get bedding and mattresses. Probably need to get some stuffed animals as well… ALL bedrooms need them obviously — even if Clara objects to Black Bear (who resides on our bed… when it’s made 😉)
- Finish some more paperwork, including Safety/Escape Plans, emergency phone numbers posted, etc.
We have a lot of other tasks we want to tackle too, like cleaning out all the junk in the basement storage rooms, getting some kid stuff at garage sales, etc. But those are fun and not super urgent. But we are excited — last night was a great meeting and helped confirm we are on the right path.
Thanks for all the prayers! We know hard times will come, but so far this process has already been a blessing — and we thank God for that.
If you have advice or questions, NEVER be afraid to let us know 😊 Like Clara had said before, we didn’t realize how excited our family & friends would be — and it because obvious that we needed to keep everyone updated!
the Maloys -- 