You can choose who you want to work with (age, gender, situation). You are more likely to have interactions with the foster parents than thw bio parents, though you may see them in court once every few months. Sometimes the bio parents are in jail already, and are brought to court by the jail just to attend the hearing.

Yes! I was going to add respite care as an option too. I became a licensed foster parent last year and at the time I was single. It was incredibly challenging to balance everything with the child I had assigned to me as a solo parent. That child was eventually reunited with their birth family but after that I explained to DCYF that I needed to only do respite care until my girlfriend moves in later this year and then I think we will be able to handle more full time care.

I did not know respite care was a thing. I want to foster but I think I’m going to start with respite. Thank you for this!

For a second I thought this was ILPT and was concerned

A big piece of this is the neglecting of mental health. Many folks who cannot take care of their kids have undiagnosed mental health issues (often self-medicated by drug abuse, etc). Their kids end up in foster care AND may have those same, undiagnosed mental health issues. Depending on the diagnosis, behaviors can downward spiral into a criminal record.

This is not the case for everyone, of course. This is what I've observed teaching fostercare students, being a CASA, and being the parent of a kid adopted out of foster care. It's a challenging path for anyone involved.

I want to do it but I dotn think I can handle hearing anything of a sexual abuse type of thing. I'd end up trying to hurt the abuser.

I'm glad for people like you existing. I could've used someone like that when I was little.

Correct, anyone who wants to do this can contact basically any foster care placement office (both nfp or for profit) and get trained and set up to provide respite. Then when needed they can call and you also most likely get paid for the service. The process is not short and they will need to do some background and training for obvious reasons but it helps out foster families tremendously.

This is all news to me and such an incredible share! Keep raising awareness of this, I love to see stuff like this get more attention.

How exactly does it work? Are you "assigned" a family and schedule or do you basically go on a babysitter list so foster parents can contact you when/if they need help?

Lots of horrible situations, lots of weird stuff. One of my clients was placed into foster care with a biological relative who had their own issues. The CASA I worked with had a long training process, which was quite helpful. I was also a teacher, so I already had experience with kids and their parents / guardians. This helped.

You're not giving the kids therapeutic counseling. You're giving them emotional support, and recording / reporting what you learn about them and their situation. You can be a squeaky wheel and try to get them more of what they need, but it doesn't always workout.

Why do arborists/tree removal services have loads of mulch that they want to get rid of (for free)?

Buy some chickens

Same here. I made sure my clients got school / hobby materials (paid for by me, then reimbursed by CASA). I also had to complete court reports about their school progress, wellbeing, and share their opinions about placement, etc. with the judge.

My mom has been fostering and to follow all the rules about having anyone take care of the kids in her absence is fairly insane. I'm currently the only approved person who can just watch them at the house because in order for someone to do that they need to be fingerprinted, fbi background check, interview with the caseworkers, etc.

Just getting myself approved took over 6 months even though we were quick about responding and providing everything they needed from me.

That means that respite care is often the only path to covering childcare in line with the rules (can't just hire a babysitter, not that you should have to!), and every time my mother has asked the caseworkers about scheduling respite care she has had to basically strong arm them to find a respite worker because they're in such short supply.

She's unfortunately had to go so far as saying she was going to have to give the kids back in one situation when they refused to find someone.

I guess my point is that providing respite care definitely will help a lot of foster parents as it really can be hard to follow the rules and have any breaks or keep up with what you need to do outside of taking care of the kids.

CASA is the organization. Often times a CASA advocate is appointed by the court to be the Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) for the child. Sometimes a child’s attorney or Attorney Ad Litem is appointed as the GAL as well for the child. Maybe it differs depending on area if volunteers can sign up to be GAL, but for my area, you would have to be a CASA or attorney for that.

Thanks for the laugh/sob.

You could go to any foster/adoption agency. They will likely have to license you in some way through trainings, classes, background checks, etc.

You don’t have to put your life on hold. I’ve worked in the CPS field for the last 3 years. Most of the CASAs I have seen are usually retired/older and enjoy helping the kids out, but I’ve known some other CASAs including my buddies wife who still have a job and do it on the side. Sure, you might have to take off work to attend court once every couple months, but a lot of it can be done on the side of your current job/life through weekends, evenings, or whenever.

I don’t think you need any specific experience either, as CASA advocates are volunteers. There is a shortage of advocates in my area, and I know CASA would love to have more people.

> I'm a person that hardly breathe through the nose when I'm doing exercise.

There's your problem. (Joking)

But no, find another route with less insects, or wear a face mask, though that might be an issue as well.

My sister does CASA and she has definitely had to cut a lot of family vacations short in order to show up for court dates. She also seems to write a lot of reports. But that's because it's a pretty important role -- her feedback informs decisions about whether to return kids to biological parents or allow them to be adopted into permanent new homes.

Respite care requires a background check but not full licensing, at least where I am at in CA. I have been a foster parent for 13 years, adopted three and fostered many more. Respite is a huge help to foster parents. Please sign up

This varies by state, but in general the paperwork involved in signup is pretty onerous, just know that going in. The renewals and CE requirements and paperwork and home visits by social workers are less for respite-only caregivers than for full-time foster parents.

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Thank you! I didn't know this part!

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