I have met a lot of people and seen a lot of things that I don't think I would have ever had the chance to meet, see, or do.
In the same breath I wish there were things that I wish I never saw or heard . I know you see in the news or maybe even Facebook or you might even have a friend or family member that does not have their priorities together and their kids fall to the side. I see it just about everyday. And majority of the time the parents don't hide that raising their children is the last thing on their minds .
I could give you guys a bunch of examples but it doesn't matter. Eventually those children are going to be parents and citizens of our community and they are missing the importance of family , respect for themselves and others, the ability to trust themselves and others, and I could go on and on about how it affects them for the rest of their lives and ours as well.
When I was a kid there wasn't much that separated my life from the kids that I serve . The only things that I can think of is church, the importance of being a hard worker, and school. And honestly I'm the one that really drilled some of that stuff into my head. I def-ly had a dysfunctional family . And the absence of a male did skew my perception of a family unit.
Like I completely counted out a male from my future plans. I cant even tell you what age this happened. Getting married or having a male help me raise a kid was never in my plans. So I automatically thought about adopting. Actually one of my friends said that if we were alone by 25 we would adopt a kid together. Obviously I am no longer alone and if you know JMN you know he wants a kid. So a year or so ago I proposed a plan to him. If he could find it in his heart to be compassionate , loving and caring to someone else that isnt a friend of his or blood related, aka to foster or adopt a kid I would do my part in having a kid with him.
In August, JMN agreed.
I am very excited to start the process. I am excited to be able to help someone. May be we will only have 1 child the entire time if we decide to just foster and that one kid has somewhere safe, and has some life breathed into him or her . I will feel like we have accomplished something. I just feel like I cant be sad or mad at situations that I do nothing to help with. I feel like fostering or adopting has such negative connotations . May be its just the area that I live in. But foster/ adoptive parents are needed.
There has been a change in the law recently. Families who have proper room for kids were able to get the amount of kids their home could hold. Now due to abuse, and other situations their can only be 5 children Max in a home. So if you have given birth to 3 children and they live in your home , and you have accommodations for more 4 more children you are legally allowed to only receive two children. This change in the law has put the state in a sticky situation because they do not have enough foster parents to care for children that are coming into care. The homes that the children could have gone to no longer meet the law . So some children are either spending the night in the Department of Children & Family Services office with the foster care worker after being taken away from their families or taken to state facilities, some psychiatric facilities.
Can you imagine that? Being taken out of your home . And spending the night in a building with a stranger or a hospital with people have been removed from their home due to mental illness or suicidal thoughts. And most families who are coming into fostering are coming to foster or adopt a friend or family members child. Or they want a child that is younger than the children they presently have. According to the foster care worker we met in orientation " everyone wants babies or biracial children." Because of this JMN & I have chosen the age 6- 12. I might even try to push it to 14. We are both familiar with those ages of children and it doesn't rob of us of the experience of having a new born at home.
The next couple of months in the Nelson household will be different. We are needing all the prayer, thoughts, and good vibes you can send us.
And if you are wanting more information on foster parenting in Louisiana you can go to this website below.
http://www.dss.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=374
Like I completely counted out a male from my future plans. I cant even tell you what age this happened. Getting married or having a male help me raise a kid was never in my plans. So I automatically thought about adopting. Actually one of my friends said that if we were alone by 25 we would adopt a kid together. Obviously I am no longer alone and if you know JMN you know he wants a kid. So a year or so ago I proposed a plan to him. If he could find it in his heart to be compassionate , loving and caring to someone else that isnt a friend of his or blood related, aka to foster or adopt a kid I would do my part in having a kid with him.
In August, JMN agreed.
I am very excited to start the process. I am excited to be able to help someone. May be we will only have 1 child the entire time if we decide to just foster and that one kid has somewhere safe, and has some life breathed into him or her . I will feel like we have accomplished something. I just feel like I cant be sad or mad at situations that I do nothing to help with. I feel like fostering or adopting has such negative connotations . May be its just the area that I live in. But foster/ adoptive parents are needed.
There has been a change in the law recently. Families who have proper room for kids were able to get the amount of kids their home could hold. Now due to abuse, and other situations their can only be 5 children Max in a home. So if you have given birth to 3 children and they live in your home , and you have accommodations for more 4 more children you are legally allowed to only receive two children. This change in the law has put the state in a sticky situation because they do not have enough foster parents to care for children that are coming into care. The homes that the children could have gone to no longer meet the law . So some children are either spending the night in the Department of Children & Family Services office with the foster care worker after being taken away from their families or taken to state facilities, some psychiatric facilities.
Can you imagine that? Being taken out of your home . And spending the night in a building with a stranger or a hospital with people have been removed from their home due to mental illness or suicidal thoughts. And most families who are coming into fostering are coming to foster or adopt a friend or family members child. Or they want a child that is younger than the children they presently have. According to the foster care worker we met in orientation " everyone wants babies or biracial children." Because of this JMN & I have chosen the age 6- 12. I might even try to push it to 14. We are both familiar with those ages of children and it doesn't rob of us of the experience of having a new born at home.
The next couple of months in the Nelson household will be different. We are needing all the prayer, thoughts, and good vibes you can send us.
And if you are wanting more information on foster parenting in Louisiana you can go to this website below.
http://www.dss.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=374
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