Applying Through a Private Agency

(This is a continuation of a thread on how I became a foster parent. Click HERE to view the previous post in this thread.)

I don’t remember why, but the first time I applied to become a foster parent it was through a private agency called Gateway Residential. (Now I work directly with the county.) The process took a long, long time. I had to:
 - Fill out a lengthy application and list three non-relative references
 - Submit a criminal records statement and be fingerprinted, and my fingerprints were run through a child abuse index
 - Get a complete health physical and a TB test
 - Submit an income and expense financial report and a personal budget
 - Develop a home disaster plan showing the layout of my home and where we would meet in an emergency
 - Have a “home study” performed to approve my home as safe for children
 - Attend an orientation class and take a minimum number of hours of parent training
 - Take a class in first aid and CPR, and put together a home first aid kit
 - Move all medicines and toxic cleaners into a locked cabinet

I completed all of this application process and was approved in early 1994. Then I waited for the call.

Click HERE to view the next post in this series.