Foster Parenting in Connecticut
What You Need to Know About Fostering in this US state
A brief overview on how to help children in the state care system.
The decision to become a foster or adoptive parent in the state of Connecticut is not one to be taken lightly. When you make this decision you must complete many hours of training, background checks and fingerprinting done by the State Police.
You will attend classes to give you the required amount of hours to become a licensed foster or pre-adoptive parent. These can be completed weekly or on a few weekends. A home study will also be completed by the Connecticut Department of Children & Families.
During the home study, a social worker will speak with all members of your household, verifying that your pets are up to date on their vaccinations, making sure your house is safe, as well as ensuring that you have room for the children in the ages your are requesting.
There are things you need to keep in mind regardless of whether you are going the foster or adoptive route. All children under the age of five will need to be on the same floor as the parents of the family, and boy and girls will need to be in different rooms once they reach the ago of five as well.
You can request, or sign up for children of certain ages, certain sibling amount groups, and also you can let the state know what disabilities you will be willing to accept, also the degree of the disabilities you can handle in your home.
Fostering classes are a wonderful beginning, and you will also have the ability to network with other potential foster and pre-adoptive parents. However, they won't prepare you for what can happen when your life is thrust into the chaos that children bring to a home.
A good foster parent will keep a notebook or log for the children in their care and make note of anything and everything that happens to the children. Making notes of behavior before and after visits with parents, anything unusual that the child says or displays and any anxiety the child had regarding these visits can go a long way to helping their state social worker to do their job and know what direction the case needs to go in. It can also go a long way in showing the progress, or lack thereof, that the child is making.
The notebook is an all-important tool for the foster or pre-adoptive parent. It can be used when the case comes to any kind of a court trial to show anything about the child that you have deemed noteworthy. It can be a journal of the child’s life, and also a journal of there things that is happening in the child’s life that is causing them stress in certain situations, or problems in school that need follow-up.
The foster parent should also make sure that plenty of photographs are taken of the children in care and share those with the biological parent; this will help build camaraderie. Sending notes with the child when they go on visits shows the parents what is going on their child’s life and also helps to build some trust.
Some foster parents even choose to have weekly phone conversations with the parents - which can help build a unique relationship with the parent.
Being a foster parent can be emotional and stressful on occasion, but it can also be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.
To find out more about becoming a foster parent in Connecticut, click here.
