Gingerert

I haven't seen anything to say otherwise, so am I to assume that foster parents in the USA are allowed to be LPRs, and not necessarily citizens? My OH is a citizen and I just received my ten-year green card.

We're not looking to start fostering immediately as our little one is still too small and needy to introduce new members to the family, but we're definitely going to look into it in the next few years. Anyone have any experience in fostering? Has your immigration status as a non-citizen ever been an issue?

Ta.

meauxna

We had a member here who fostered kids.. he's been gone a while but you might be able to reach him through his profile: Patrick

Bob

Sugarmooma too might have some info as she has helped kids in the past, out in Texas.

I think this one might depend on the state though.

Mummy in the foothills

We fostered infants and toddlers before I got my USC no problem at all no one ever asked, and they knew where we were from.

Gingerert

Thanks all. We're only just starting to think about this seriously, but it's always useful to have as much info as you can before you get cracking.

Rete

BE had a former member who was indeed a foster parent. He was only an LPR and his wife was an USC. They lived in SC I believe and his first name was Patrick if you want to search the archives for him. I believe they went on to adopt one/few of their foster children.

meauxna

Or post #2.

Bill_S

I had to double-check which Patrick you were talking about

Englishtart

I just saw a story on the news tonight about a programm called 'safe families', it allows parents that are having problems getting jobs, homes or just more established, to place their kids in 'safe homes' until they are more able to have them live back at home. Very interesting.

scrubbedexpat097

Kudos to you honey!

Your status shouldn't be a problem at all. I also think you are being very sensible in your approach regarding your "lil man" as well. Thinking ahead is a good thing.

If I can be of any help let me know.

Rete

The pagan sex god

Stu_67

Hi,

My wife and I were licensed as foster parents 2 years ago, just 1 year after we moved over here. My PR status didn't cause any real issues, it just meant the Social Worker who was licensing us had to do a bit more paperwork than usual. They had to do police checks in the UK and contact the Social Work Dept where we used to live in Scotland. My interview was slightly longer than usual too, as they wanted to know all about the UK way of life.
If you google "HFS 56", you will find the Rules and Regulations for fostering in the State of Wisconsin, it is long and boring but worth reading.
If you need any information about the process and what you need to do, I will be happy to help the best I can.

Best Wishes,

Stu

Gingerert

Thanks! Little O's needs come first right now, but once he's more independent I don't see why we can't open our doors.

That's really useful, thanks! You said you were licensed - does that mean you've started fostering or you haven't had any assigned children yet? What has your experience been like?

Stu_67

Licensed means you have passed all the checks and interviews, done the required training and passed the home inspection. You are then ready to accept foster children when needed. You even get a Foster Parent ID card!!! So you wait for the phone to ring!

We were licensed in July but did not have any children placed with us until November. We were asked to take care of 2 brothers, 9 weeks and 2 years old. Initially it was expected they would be with us no more than a year. That was 18 months ago and the way things are now we are probably going to adopt them.

As far as experiences....where do i start?. All foster kids arrive with issues, even at the young age that ours were, and you have to deal with those and gain their trust and hopefully their acceptance. We were fortunate that the boys were young and quickly accepted us as Mum (Mom) and Dad.

Dealing with the 'birth parents' can be the hardest part. You are either the good guys looking after their kids for them or the evil bad guys trying to steal them, and their opinion of you can change daily so you are never sure how they are going to treat you.

You will have days when you think you are doing something good and worthwhile.....then there are days when you cannot imagine what possessed you to ever want to be a Foster Parent!!

Every case is different....our experiences so far have been mostly good with only the odd bump in the road....but our next placement may be totally the opposite....that's part of the trials of Fostering, the unexpected.

That said we have never regretted going down this road and to be honest I can't imagine life without our foster kids as they are as much a part of our family as our own 3 kids are.

Hope I haven't put you off the idea. If you have any more questions, please ask and I will answer as honestly as I can.

Best Wishes,

Stu

another bloody yank

IMHO, everything possible should be done to put people off the idea. You want people to know what they are thinking of getting into. It takes an extremely special kind of person to foster kids and every effort should be made to warn people who are thinking of doing it that while it can be very rewarding and can make all the difference in the world to a child, it is no lark. Some close friends of my parents fostered and later adopted triplets (all boys) who are now adults. While they did have their good times, parts of it were and still are brutal.