PS MAPP 9: Teamwork & Partnership

This class had so much potential. Last week we were told we'd have a panel at the beginning of this class that would have resource (foster care) parents, community resources, and adopted kids. We were going to be able to ask questions but we should be mindful of their situation and only ask respectful questions (obviously!). 

For the first hour, the panel consisted of a woman from the Department of Health Services, a man from a foster readiness/permanency program (this program is ending soon), a kinship licensing woman,  and an HCTC (Home Care Training to the Home Care Client) parent. HCTC is for children with extreme behavior issues. The first hour was pre-approved questions that were pretty dry and irrelevant to our situation. After that a resource parent arrived. She has 7 kids in her home, 5 have been adopted. She was very helpful, honest, and realistic. I took away 2 things from her:

1. Have a family album ready to go and give it to the child when you pick them up and are taking them home for the first time. That way they can look through the album and see both of us, our house, Maggie, our siblings, our parents, our niece and nephews, activities we enjoy doing, etc. She said it is very helpful especially for younger kids because they are so scared at first. 
2. Always ask the GAL (Child's lawyer) when the court date is and attend. Apparently that is the only way you are going to get the full story.

The rest of the class we discussed the different team members systems we will be working with and the problems we might have with them. We broke into groups and each received a system to discuss what roles we have with that system, any problems we might encounter, ways to solve the problems, and who we could reach out to.

The last topic of the night was abuse. As resource parents, Jon and I are both mandated reporters. As resource parents we have a 1 in 2 chance of being accused of child abuse. That is a 50/50 chance! This part scared me quite a bit, I can't imagine being accused of child abuse or going through the investigations required when I know I didn't do anything. The goal of this part of the class was to make us aware that it occurs, why it occurs, and how to deal with it when it occurs. We are to keep our perspective, be honest, cooperate, document everything, ask questions, and get support. 

Our homework for this week sounds interesting and for the first time, a little more realistic than the previous assignments. This week we were given 6 envelopes. The first envelope has a child's name. We are to open the first envelope the day after class (That's today, Wednesday). Then we open an envelope each day after that in numerical order and complete the assignment based on the situation that has occurred. They seemed to also give us a case that was within the age range we are looking to foster/adopt. Our child's name is Steven. 

I'll do my best to give a daily update on each envelope so you can join us on our mini journey! We haven't read today's envelope yet so look for an update tomorrow!