Getting A Placement
When a foster home is “open” it means they are licensed and have space available for children described in their profile. The child placing agency should only contact a foster home about children meeting these guidelines. A phone call may come at any hour to ask if the foster parent can accept the placement. Here is an actual transcript of a call to foster parents for an emergency placement:
“Hi this is Bob from CPS. Is this Susan? We have a possible placement in Tarrant County for your home. Two boys, brothers, the only children in the home. They are 5 and 6. They are being removed from mom due to neglect. She is being taken to jail. They are hispanic. Can you take them tonight? Great. We should be there around
midnight.”
The decision to accept an emergency placement generally needs to be made quickly. Children being placed in the home will be brought to the foster home by their caseworker.
The responsibilities of foster parents mirror those of any parent. However, there are some limitations foster parents must be aware of. They cannot have elective medical procedures such as birthmark removal or circumcision, have a child baptized into a faith, or pierce a child’s ears and may not cut a child’s hair without parental or caseworker permission. These limitations vary greatly from agency to agency, but many are consistent statewide. It is important for foster parents to keep up on minimum standards for running a foster home.
If a foster child in your home cannot be returned to their parents, the state will search for other family members of the child for a kinship placement. If no family members can take the child or sibling group, the foster family is often given the opportunity to adopt, if they wish.
