Recruitment Meeting

I went to a foster parent recruitment night last night. I caught up with a GHOBI representative, which is basically foster care, but on steroids. These kids are high needs behaviorally and mental healthily. You get payed more and maybe I could do it. Maybe not, though, C has been a handful as it is. This GHOBI, whatever it stands for, is new in the community and they are doing a lot of good work for the county. Wrap around services is what they call it. In order to qualify for GHOBI, you have to be subsidized in some other government intervention. Like foster care. Our CASA is looking in to getting our case transferred from CCMH (columbia county mental health) to this GHOBI place for maybe more resources to help the kids that are placed with us. They are a mess, as always. As I talked to the rep, though, I am not sure if our kids are a mess enough. We're talking about kids who do self-harm, who blow up at school with biting and spitting and stuff who cannot regulate their own emotions. C doesn't do that. She mostly has listening and following direction problems and a need for attention that overrules all of her taught skills. It's still a headache. We're going on a year, all the counseling we did over the summer and it's often just as frustrating as it was. More good days, but those bad days hit just as hard and fast as always.

After catching up with the GHOBI people I talked to a certifier who is the other half of our certifier. Sounds weird, but what it is, is that we have a certifier that works two, 10 hour days. And then she has a partner who does the second part of the week, the other two, 10 hours days. She was absolutely so nice and approachable. She answered a few questions for me, too. I felt very much more in the 'know' after having talked to her and that was fulfilling. If the night had ended there, it would have been fine.

But! I got to talk to a parent unit with their son about becoming foster parents. It was invigorating to have the answers they needed and to just give them a little of the lowdown. Something I wish I would have had when I was looking into the process. I remember seeing a post about someone reaching out for foster parents on facebook. It was a family member posting, not DHS or anyone representing them, and it just hit me so hard that I cried that night. Two girls needed a home ASAP and there was nothing I could do about it.  I then contacted almost everyone that commented on that post who I felt like might know something, anything, about the foster care process and it was tedious work. To have an open meeting like the one last night would have been so excellent!

This is something that I love. My passion. I have found it. Surrounding myself with people who have the same passion is so beautiful. And being able to share my knowledge and experiences with people is just great, too. I was flying high on my way out of there and then Amanda (The recruitment head person. She teaches the classes and puts together all the messages about training opportunities) reached out to me and asked if Steven and I would be willing to come in and talk about our experiences on a panel for her next training. Heck yes! She says this, "I just thought of you. You are fairly new, you are part of sibling unit that works seamlessly together, you have a relationship with the bio-parents that, I don't know what it is, but it works. And you've had your fair share of unexpected things like C's surgery and the need for a new caseworker - although that can't be advertised too openly because then everyone will want a new one." When you put it all like that, then yes, yeah, it's a lot. I have a lot to share. In my short year of doing this service I have kind of run the gauntlet. When I first met the attorney that represents the kids he says something to the extent, "This is your first foster experience? I can't believe you got such a complicated case for your first one." And back then, we didn't know what that meant. We had no idea what other people's experiences were, we were just along for the ride. And now, having met more people and heard more incredible things than I can even remember, I see what he means. Yes, we got a hard one for this first one. I can only hope that they get easier after this.

I was just so estatic, though, to be asked to be on the panel. Success! It may be a small way to measure a job well-done, but I will measure away. Of course, when I tell people this incredible story of being chosen to be on the panel they just nod their heads and say, 'of course' - but really. I am just so happy! I don't see myself as doing anything too super special, and yet I can have such great success just by being the person that I am and doing the things that I do naturally. It feels good.