Thank you, I think this is the part a lot of people miss. It is so easy to look at a kid and see the behavior. It is much harder to see what caused the behavior and make an effort to correct

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Just be very careful as certain tree mulch isn’t good for all types of plants/gardens. Neighbors saw the sign we were going to have the road blocked off for tree removal and the grinding truck. They wanted to buy/have the mulch until they found out one of the trees going in was a bay tree. That species of bay tree has a bacteria that can be wickedly toxic to a lot of other plants.

Thank you so much for this. Foster families need so so much more support than governments provide. Stronger, broader social support like the things mentioned in this post are vital to closing the gaps by even a little bit.

I'm originally from California and I learned recently that upwards of 70% (SEVENTY PERCENT!) of currently incarcerated individuals in the state of California (hundreds of thousands of people) are former foster youth.

These kids need us, whether we are able to bring them into our homes or not.

I went through the Foster Care system a few years ago with my wife when we were deciding to be parents.

At least where I am, the Foster Care program is one of the most corrupt things I've ever been involved with. They claim to be there for the kids, but EVERYTHING they do is to secure their funding FIRST.

The 9mo old they placed with us got removed from our loving, providing home in favor of her drugged out mother 2 months after placement. I've never felt like such a failure of a human being as when i was dropping that angel off on her drugged out parents' doorstep.

Terrible experiences. While I understand none of this is the children's fault and they still need help and loving homes, the system is broken and irreparable IMO. Burn it down and start over.

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Not really, the biggest qualifier is a willingness to learn and be present for these kids. My understanding is that the CASA is used primarily on court days, foster parents manage the child's appointments, and transportation.

Great advice. Respite was a godsend to my mom when she was doing foster care, especially if there was a doctors appointment or something where it makes it awkward to corral a bunch of munchkins

That’s awesome.

> I want to build a large working farm where we can teach basic farming, butchering, culinary school.

If it's about teaching young people, make sure the crops/products are what will actually be farmed on a hotter Earth.

I'm having some serious conversations with my farming tenants regarding how much longer they really want to grow wheat and maybe they should make the switch to kernza sooner rather than later.

My CASA bought my dream prom shoes and she was one of my most trusted adults ever. We went on lunch dates after court happenings and always ended the day with a melancholy laugh at it all and a warm hug. Made those days so much less terrifying. Miss Amy, I love you.

I would think so. I was usually seeing my clients 1x week for a few hours or whole afternoon. Their social worker from the county saw them for 10 minutes, once a month. I was able to provide a lot more accurate and up to date info regarding the child's status.

Edit: If during the week, best to visit them after school.

Well, I know what I'm doing this spring...😶

I’ve wondered about doing this myself, but I don’t know if I’m qualified. Does one need to have any experience with navigating the judicial system, or any other specific experience? Also, does one need to pretty much put their lives on hold in terms of conflicting appointments or trips?

Similar to this, just curious about the time commitment as a whole!

I work a 9-5 that's pretty strict about time off, my only free days from work are Sundays and Mondays, do you think I can still be a good candidate to be a CASA?

Contact your local health and welfare office and ask them what you need to do. They'll direct you.

Check if this mulch is thermally processed. Most likely it's not (hence cheap) and you are inviting pests on your property.

Respite care is immensely needed all over.

Relief for foster parents and taking temp placements for kids who just came into the system or other emergencies is a huge deal. otherwise these kids end up staying in the office with a social worker or at a hotel room until they can find a placement. There is never enough.

Please volunteer if you can. They pay you for your trouble. Particularly if you are older and kids out of the house, you probably have the time and space to take a kid for 2 days so they don't have to be taken from their parents and spend the next night in the health and welfare office.

Amazing, this is very helpful, thank you.

Start the same way you would by being a foster parent, but tell them you are only interested in doing respite. It's a needed piece of every foster care experience, and they will work with you. You likely will still have to get a foster care license, and take all of the training required to do so, but in the end essentially are a babysitter for however much time you will commit.

Thanks

Find your local health and welfare office and ask.

Generally you need to take the same process as a foster parent, just only interested in respite. It varies by state though so definitely call the office and ask.

Generally (it varies by state) you go through the same process as a foster parent but indicate you are only interested in respite. Sign up, fill out a bunch of paperwork, take a class once or twice a week for a month, and you are good to go. There's a small follow up like once a year. The social workers should reach out to you about needed respite.