Photo by Frugan My kids are in foster care. We gave them quite a few clothes for our kids. Some of them they got from christmas and my daughter got new clothes for her birthday in Feburary.

The fostermom told me that she out grew all of the clothes. So I asked her over a month ago for the clothes back. I give them to a friends of mine kid because they can’t afford clothes.

I asked her again today and she said she gave them all to the church. I ask her for my sons clothes, I like to keep their clothes for the first year for when they have kids, she got rid of his also.

My question is, Are they allowed to get rid of my kids clothes without my permission? I don’t know a lot about foster parents, but any kind of advice of what they do would be nice.

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• Typically ships the NEXT business day!
• This is a fun hat for the patriotic racing fan in your life. Or maybe someone who lives in the fast lane.
• It has a USA Flag on the right side and the typical black and white checkered Racing Pattern on the left side. It is made with Brushed Cotton Twill on a Low Profile Pro Style Cap. It is a 6-panel cap that has a seamed Front Panel with Full Buckram. There are 6 Embroidered Eyelets with Pro Stitch on Crown. It has a Matching Fabric Undervisor, Matching Color Sweatband and Matching Fabric Adjustable Hook and Loop Closure.
• The design is over a panel seam.

Product Description:

T-ShirtFrenzy offers over 30,000 designs on tons of products to offer millions of variations. You can search our store for something for everyone on your gift list or shop for yourself (our personal favorite). Please contact us with questions. . . . More >>

PROTECTED BY A FOSTER PARENT Adult USA Flag Racing Flame Hat / Cap

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Photo by OSSCube The rise in the number of single parents is not limited to the Western world. In South Africa in 1998, over a fifth of all households were run by single parents. As is true everywhere, single parenthood results from separation or divorce, death, and pregnancy outside of wedlock. In addition to widespread problems with AIDS, South Africa continues to experience increasingly high rate of teenage pregnancy.
This means that single mothers are bearing the brunt of serious poverty early and life without the benefit of support systems. The more traditional South African communities still believe that mothers should be responsible for rearing the children and giving care within the home.

And they have the added burden of caring for family and children affected by HIV/AIDS. A 2000 report on the “State of South Africa’s Population” showed that the need for contraception for adult women and teenagers in rural areas far outstrips the availability of contraceptive education and supplies.

Calling for programs that will give rural teenagers and women greater control over their reproductive lives, the report blamed the shortage in contraception for most of the teenage pregnancies (many a result of rape).
Sadly, many South African children grow up without fathers. In some cases, fathers have had to leave the family home to find work across the country’s borders. In others, the fathers have fallen victim to AIDS, leaving widows and orphans in their wake. And some women have single-parenthood forced on them by war.
Increased numbers of divorced in South Africa have also created more single-parent families. Reports indicate that the number of divorced increased from 27 thousand in 1986 to around 33 thousand in 1987 and 1989. And two-thirds of them involved children.
In 1985, more than 25 thousand South African children lived in a home run by a single parent. By September 1990, 73% of South Africa’s children’s parents were divorced, and over 150 thousand had been involved in divorce over a four-year period. We can only assume the numbers are greater in 2008.

South African children are greatly affected by divorce. Not only is the marriage dissolved, but the child is separated from one or both parents. Absent fathers are a serious problem for South African children and their mothers. The reduced ability to earn a meager income is magnified by the lack of a male role model in the home, which has serious consequences for future South African generations.
As divorces increase, so do the chances for South African children to be exploited. Extreme poverty forces single parents to abandon their children, increasing to the number of orphans and children living in the streets.

Another reason single parents abandon their children is the fact that foster parents receive more financial support than do single parents. A single parent in extreme poverty may hope that the child will get better care from foster parents.
Unfortunately, it is the very children most in need of care and parenting that are the most at risk for exploitation. Child pornography is a major industry in South Africa, and sexual trafficking of children is increasing. Children are prostituted to provide basic food stuffs for their starving families. Labor exploitation is common, with children under the age of 15 being forced to work long hours for little to no pay.
South African women face a grim life. Frequent victims of rape, teenage pregnancies are common. Single mothers, no matter what the reason for their situation, face social stigma and extreme poverty. Sexual exploitation of women is a serious and growing problem.
Clearly, both governmental and non-governmental help is urgently needed, yet the need frequently overtakes available help. Better opportunities for single parents to find work, education, and vocational training would bring about great improvements in the log of South Africa’s single parents.
One hopeful program is run by the non-governmental organization SOS Children. They offer vocational training courses (including beadwork and dressmaking) to single parents in Mamelodi, Mandela Village.

The women who learn how to sew and decorate their work make clothing and knit jumpers they can sell. There are some single fathers in the courses, and the project helps some single parents by giving them grants to start businesses of their own.

Single Parenting (The Healthy Parenting Series)

My Flesh and Blood

And Baby Makes Two

Mom’s House, Dad’s House for Kids: Feeling at Home in One Home or Two

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I adopted my son from foster care, but I must admit, I am a bit ignorant of the process regarding foster parents themselves. I know foster parents receive money, however, is the money for themselves… or is it specifically supposed to be for the child: food, clothes, etc.

If it’s for the children, then do they/should they have to account for every penny spent to ensure that the children are getting what they need?

I would think that would weed out the takers.

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FOSTER PARENTS SPEAK explores foster parenting today through the experience and insights of foster families. Foster parents speak candidly about the challenges and rewards in developing shared parenting relationships with birth families and professionals. Released on DVD 7-1-2008!

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The foster care adoption system provides temporary family care and shelter to any child from birth to 18 years old. Most of these children are left to fend for themselves at a very young age. Some have parents incapable of providing their basic needs, a loving and caring environment. Some of the children have been through very rough experiences in their own homes like physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as deprivation and other negative experiences. It was currently recorded in the US that the average stay of children in their foster homes is 31 months. Half of the children get to be permanently adopted. The process to get into foster care adoption may vary, depending on the policies implemented by agencies and areas. The prospective foster parents undergo training and have to obtain a license. The process also involves a lot of paperwork, background check and a home study. Parents are also provided stipends to contribute to the expenses entailed in taking care of the children. These include clothing, school supplies and toiletries. Supervised visitation of biological parents is also done in the foster care system. Length of the visit may vary. Of course, foster care adoptions have its advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that it reassures parents that they are providing a very positive contribution to children and their biological families. It also builds a strong emotional bond between the foster parents and the children; likewise, visibly benefitting both parties in the process. The state also provides compensation to the foster families. There are some disadvantages also. First, both foster parents/family and children undergo the pain of separation, once and if a child is reunited to his family of origin. The stipend for foster parents is not enough to provide for the overall needs of the child. Hence, foster care adoption may also mean that foster parents have the resources to be able to tend to the needs of the child. Thus, emotional and financial strains may be created within the foster family. It also creates a feeling somehow that there is never enough support or resources for the children in foster care. Foster care adoption may require a certain amount of money. Private and agency adoptions may require a starting amount of $5,000 to $40,000. The amount may vary, depending on the required documents the foster care adoption arrangements would entail. These factors include services, travel expenses, birthmother expenses, documents or other requirements from the state, among other factors. International adoptions costs go between $7,000 and $30,000. In the US, the foster care system is not that costly though. One of the factors that determine the permanence of foster care adoption is the result of the rehabilitation of parents after a period of six months to more than a year. If there were very little or no changes seen after such time, parental rights are terminated (TPR). Before reaching this point, case workers must be able to tell whether the child’s case is heading towards this direction. He is then transferred to a family that has an intention to permanently adopt him. The court will process the adoption commencing once the TPR is deemed effective. The adoption also entails that the right of the biological parent to know who the adoptive parents are becomes void. Although in many cases, adoptive parents were able to build a good relationship with the birth parents.

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A new survey ranked Idaho as 44th in the country in the financial support for foster parents. But for Julianne Rinard, that lack of support is very real. She has six teenage foster daughters, and she has to dig deep to help pay for basic need for them. KXLY4’s Annie Bishop reports.

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Image taken on 2008-06-22 15:23:59 by Transguyjay.

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Image taken on 2007-01-17 09:13:29 by Greencolander.

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A foster care distance learning program opens up exciting careers in childcare and foster parenting. If you love children and would like to spend your time with them, your love can become an exciting career with foster care distance learning programs. The courses equip the students with the latest information on licensing, accreditation, certification, working with parents, financing and budgeting a child care center or providing current and future foster parents the kind of training they need to give substitute care for children and the youth they adopt.
Course Content
Professionals and foster parents who undertake the foster care distance learning programs learn to organize educational activities, start and operate their own child care facility, set up and maintain a safe, clean and well organized child care environment or use computers to help children learn and play. The curriculum emphasizes family development and guardianship. It focuses on the foster family role and responsibilities in providing care to children. It considers self awareness and effective communication as fundamental to relationships with children, youth, families and child care teams.
The course explores the effects of care giving on foster families and understands the importance of the family to the child and the role of the foster parents in involving and working with the child’s family. Students are expected to observe and maintain a record of the daily activities of the child to ensure progress and quality of care. Areas of concern such as impact of loss, separation, abuse and neglect are examined in detail and students are taught to recognize the symptoms and deal with them. Cultural responsiveness, care of aboriginal children and substance misuse are some of the other topics that are covered in foster care distance learning courses.
Foster Care Distance Learning Programs
The Penn Foster Career School has a Child Day Care Management Program. Students are given the latest inputs on licensing, accredition, certification and working with parents. Financing and budgetings of child care centers form an integral part of the course. The Michigan New Learning Program for Foster Parents is a program that involves four states and a certificate is awarded by the Illinois University. This is an innovative foster care distance learning program that aims to involve foster parents by providing them an opportunity to take recertifiation courses and build up new skills via the Internet, CD ROM, Video and other technologies.
The Department of Social Health and Services (DSHS) has a division of Professional Development and Training which conducts a program to train foster parents, provide substitue care to children and all that it involves. A number of distance learning degree programs are offered. British Columbia is a leader in foster care education and training and offers a free of cost training program.
Foster care distance learning programs are designed to hone up the skills of foster parents and child care specialists to give them the right perspective on handling problems of children who are placed in an out of home environments. If you like children and would like to make their lives better, you should decide to train in foster care!

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