Fostering process

I've always always wanted to adopt.
Always.
Through a series of conversations, experiences, and research we came to the conclusion that we felt that fostering was the most ethical way we could see adopting - and we also felt drawn to fostering that would never lead to adoption.

So now we feel in a place to pursue this goal of fostering/adopting.

It started with an inquiry which was responded with a thick application which lead to a foster parent class, a physical (including a tb screen that must be done annually or bi-annually), and a home visit, and that's where we are now.

And there is still red tape.

We've lived in other states in the last five years so we have to get background checks from those states (which have different requirements than our current state when seeking a background check).

Four reference letters were required. Or maybe five.
Two of which were lost in faxland and mail land (I think really in Department of Social Services land) so those need to be completed again.

We have a bedroom ready, a crib, a cradle, a twin bed, a car seat ... not knowing anything about any potential child means we want all of these items on hand, just in case.

The whole process is intense and a lot of it seems silly but it seems more silly to make the process easier. Hopefully this gives DSS a clear sense of who we are and also weeds out those less devoted to the challenging task of fostering. I'm fairly certain that the application process is going to seem like a dream once we start parenting more children :)

So that's the foster update.