In the End.....

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced"

Last Day for Editing, Dale is Going to Kill Me

In a couple of hours I am heading out to campus. I have grand ideas for my film, but I need a Mac and Dale. He may just want to turn around and walk out when he hears what I want to do. I do believe this will be my last post that I self-reflect on. I will of course be adding my film and a bibliography. I have had such a great experience these last few months with all the new people I have met and new information I am armed with--not just the foster families--I mean my instructor, Dale, classmates, and the new technology information I am armed with (I am impressed with myself quite frankly). I will end (or should I say start) with a last quote from James Baldwin, this is my third one now.

How to start the Fostering Process

Step 1
Search the web for information about the department of child services and foster parenting in your county or state.

Step 2
Check out local fostering agencies, many help you through the process and have more time to talk to you and help you than a state social worker does.

Step 3
Most states require training, mine was 24 hours of training (8 weeks, 3 hours a day, once a week). While in the process of training you are usually required to finish the other things mentioned below.

Step 4
Get finger printed! Ours had to be through LiveScan agencies in San Diego. This just does a background check to make sure you're not a criminal and haven't been convicted of anything major like child abuse, bank robbery, etc.

Step 5
Take a CPR and First Aid class. Even if your state doesn't require it, it's a good thing to do! You can even complete the classes online in as little as an hour (see website below).

Step 6
In some states you have to take a Psychological test. It's not hard, just basic questions that figure out how you think. It will show things like if you think about stealing stuff or hurting people or yourself. The "correct" answers should be pretty obvious. I'm sure most states will also require a test comparable to the California test.

Step 7
You will also have a home inspection where you will need basic things.
1. a bedroom for the child/children
2. a light
3. a window in their room
4. a dresser
5. a bed or crib depending on the age you plan to foster
6. cleaning supplies in a locked cabinet
7. guns stored a specific way depending on your state regulations
8. medications in a locked cabinet
9. your water temperature should not go above 110-120 degrees (varies by state)
10. emergency plan
11. fire drill log
12. emergency contacts posted
13. electrical socket covers are usually recommended but not always required

Step 8
Once you're done with your classes, fingerprints, and everything else your state requires, you're ready! Now you just wait for your child to be placed with you! Some get a child the day their class is done (or in our class a couple got twins a week before the class was over) or some may have to wait a few weeks! Either way, you're helping a life of a child.

Step 9
If you ever decide you are willing to adopt the child, even if their biological parents or guardians rights have not been terminated yet, be sure to let the child's social worker know! Once you have had a child in your home for six months or longer, that child's best interest is to stay and be adopted by you if their parent or guardian does not get custody back and the state will recognize that if you tell them you are interested.

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Up to the challenge?
Become a KidsPeace foster parent Give a child a chance
www.kidspeace.org/foster.aspx


Foster Care
Social Service classes available online from Phoenix University.
www.University-Phoenix-Info.com


Tips & Warnings
get used children/baby clothes from friends when their children grow out of them just to have a nice stock of clothes in different sizes. Some times you might get a child with nothing but a dirty diaper and you'll want to have something to take them clothes shopping in.be patient!Many children come with issues of their own (abuse or neglect) and they won't always be "perfect" so if you're trying to play house, this isn't the way to do it.You will get attached to the children and you have to remember there's always a possibility that they will go back to their parents.you will love these children so much as if they were your own, so don't be surprised when you get attached!

Large Span of Ideas, Too Large

I have realized today that I have to narrow down my ideas for my short film (or Dale will have my head). I would love to incorporate in my film the idea of African American children, or any minority for that matter, being fostered by Caucasian adults. I was interested in the problems that the families incur, challenges, classes, or courses that might possibly be available to help the foster family through their fostering process. The two foster families I interviewed however did not find difficulty in the fact that the foster parents and children were of two different races. So, not much of a story for me. There is a story there, there is some good research, but not for this video. It is a project for me for the future. Maybe more in this blog? My video will be more of a Call to Action. Why we caould all help with fostering, why we should foster, why we should all help anyone in need.....

A Call to Action

After learning much more about UWMilwaukee's Service Learning Institute, the drive home became interesting. The thought that this should be a requirement for all students was foremost in my mind. Learn, acquire knowledge, earn credits, all while helping YOUR community. No matter where the student is from--Northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, or even California--while you are a student at UWMilwaukee, Milwaukee county IS your community. I live in Waukesha county, but very much feel a part of Milwaukee. I plan on being at the school for at least another 5+ years. Helping others, bringing important information to the public makes one feel good about themself. Makes you feel "connected to" and "worthy of" your community. Listening to what others are currently doing and have done in the past makes me proud to be a student at UWMilwaukee. I have learned a great deal from my Film 150 class, more than Vicki will ever realize. I am the one who has reaped all the benefits from researching foster care and from interviewing foster parents. Anne Novotny will forever be in my thoughts--and her plea for everyone to help just one person (not necessarily by fostering)--as she mirrors the initiative that the Institute for Service Learning embodies.
The drive home also prompted my husband to say, "after listening to the speakers, it really makes me want to help in some way."

Institute for Service Learning

May 3, 2009 Zelazzo Center for the Performing Arts


Richard Meadows, Dean UWM College of Letters and Science


Vicki and Me

The man who supports me through all my endeavors

Banana Bread and Plugs

In the computer lab with Vicki to my right and Dale helping me edit. Dale had to teach me EVERYTHING. He usually had to do it a few times for me to get it. I feel better about all the time he is putting in to helping me because I baked him some homemade banana bread! In this picture he is probably fixing a "plug" that I created. I have grand ideas for my video and Dale is helping me with them all!

Thanks again Dale.

I've captured the interview segments I want and am busy with pictures and text and maybe music that I want to incorporate

In the Middle.....

"The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of it's ugly side." -James Baldwin

Presentation and Discussions about Fostering at UWM

One of the foster families I visited, Janet and Larry, said they often go to UWMilwaukee for classes and presentaions regarding foster care. She is going to one May 11, 2009 entitled Improving Care for Medically Fragile Foster Children. This is perfect for her. She states that any problems she has with fostering all have to do with the state and the help that is required for his medical condition. Janet also attends classes and presentations that are given at Kids Matter Inc. Janet and Larry are very proactive when it comes to the care of their 16 year old foster son, it is a full time job in and of itself.

I am learning so much. I feel as if I see both sides of the fostercare system by interviewing two different foster families, both of whom live in Milwaukee. Anne is very positive, has only wonderful things to say about fostering and has a need to get the word out that we all can and should do it. Janet has been fostering for 20 years, she has seen how the kids can fall through the cracks and not get the care that is needed. Her feeling is that the state can do more.