A question for Foster Parents regarding record keeping?
I was shuffled between foster homes in Ohio and in Kentucky after I was born & before I was placed at the age of 6 months with my adoptive parents.
I am curious as to what sort of information you were/are given regarding the babies you care for. Do you give the agency information? Like, how the baby acts, etc? Did you take pictures of the babies you cared for? Did you keep the pictures, or did you give them to the agency?
I know it's a long shot, but I am thinking about finding out this information. I would love to know how I was as an infant, or see pictures of me as an infant...and yes, cameras were in existence then!! ;)
Thanks!
2009-09-08T10:20:14Z
eta for Gypsy- my first Mom had no idea I wasn't placed immediately. She was very upset when she found out this information. Other adoptees have said the same thing happened to them. I probably will have no luck getting this info- even though I have been in reunion for over 20 years.
2009-09-08T12:46:45Z
eta: You guys are giving me great answers, thanks! Cricketlady, I will be 44...ugh....I think its so awesome that you take pictures. Its always bothered me that there is this "black hole" for the first 6 months of my life. I was already sitting up when I was placed with my parents, and had 3 teeth. It just makes me sad for my "baby self" that I have no idea about my milestones....
cricketlady2009-09-08T12:27:48Z
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I wish I knew what age you were or your age group-. We were foster parents in the old days ---early 70's til just 2 yrs ago when we retired. I've also worked in the fiel--still am. We had 100 kids. So I know something about 'the system'. In the 'old days' we were told practically NOTHING---times have changed.Actually changed about 25 yrs ago[here]. We knew nothing back then except what they thought we needed to know and that was darn little. Back then I and other foster parents I knew back then took lots of pictures. Today every foster parent I see has a camera---hanging around their neck, setting on the kitchen counter, one in the purse, and one in the car. My walls are plastered woiith goster kids pictures and they send me new ones ever so often. DOCUMENTATION is a very big part of what foster parents are REQUIRED TO AND KEEP. Some of the goes to case workers and most stayn with the foster parent. We have child folders for each foster child in placement and I have lots of them here. When achild goes into foster care the Foster Parent Support Specialist makes a visit to the foster home taking all the paperwork and going over it with the foster parent if she is new or if she has any questions.We do a much better job now with information. Every child coming into care has their picture takken by the caseworker or the placement worker---usually two different people. If there is anything unusal about the child's behavior or the child's condition the FP would be on the phone to the worker or if it's a weekend, nighttime. holiday, etc I will get the call. Foster parents take lots and lots of pictures I am going to believe that you will find this information out there somewhere--I just will believe!! I feel your best bet on locating your info will be with some of those foster homes. My daughter was placed with us 24 yrs ago and the worker set down with her and she--my dau---wrote a letter to her mom and one to her dad. The worker documented in my dau. memory book every home she had ever lived in during that 1 yr of care---it was 12 homes contained every name and address. When we took guardiansgip of a teen yrs ago we got all medical info on him and his mom the day she entered the hospital to have the child. I hope you can contact the agency and get a list of homes where you lived. I hope. Good luck to you. P.S.---I've got tons and tons of picutes of foster kids that I cherish and some have someone else in them and most are by themselves ---actually pretty well half weeith someone else and half by themselfs---AND they all tell a story.We even took them to get profeshional pictures done and when my daughter gratuated from high school they dressed similar for her senior pictures---one set was mickey mouse and sleepwear--absolutely darling. I'm in Illinois.
In my state which is Ohio all foster parents are encouraged to do a life book for all children in their care. It is just like a baby book but continues all through them while in care even teens. However I have found that most don't do it. As the child goes from home to home they life book is supposed to go with them. Once and if the child is adopted the foster family gives the life book to the agency who then gives it to the adoptive parents. We adopted our foster son that we had from two days old. It was funny when his adoption was going through the Foster care Social worker asked for the book then the adoption worker gave it back to us at time of adoption. As for what they give you when the child is placed they give you age why they were placed in foster care, any behaviors they have good and bad, delays if any and any thing that can be considered an issue and you decide on the phone if you will accept the child and they then bring the child to you or you go pick them up. I can't see any foster parent keeping a picture unless someone else is in it they want to keep. Many of the foster parents i have come across have done this for years and have had over 50 children in thier homes at one time or another.l They remeber some some they don't esepecially the ones that only stated a few months
I made a book for each child with all of the information, and passed the book onto the biol parents with one copy for the agency. I also kept many pictures myself. I have kept up care packages for one of the children, about once a year.
I can't believe that you have that "black hole". We are rigid about the whole life book and continuity for children, so no matter where they end up they will have that record.
If the book is only given to the parents when the chidren move back home though there is no guarantee that the child will still have it when they are older. Two copies should always be made, one for parents/child and one for social services to keep on file. As a foster parent, I know the foster parents woudl love to hear from you. The records should be accessible, maybe at least you can send a letter through the agency and they can send the letter on?
Man, that sucks. I'm sorry you can't get that info. That's ridiculous.
Foster parents, though, are considered "employees" or "vendors" by their state or province, and as such, the state or province generally "owns" all the information that foster parents are provided with.
I'm not sure if this is done anymore (babies going into foster care before being privately placed), so I'm not really sure if the info would be any different. However, one of the reasons that it is so difficult to place infants in foster care is that they "come with" almost no info, and it can sometimes be difficult to determine what their needs are, both obvious and underlying. I can't speak to what the agency might have done at that time, but the files of infants are often quite "bare".
I hope you find the info, though. I am inclined to think that the ENTIRETY of a child's foster care file should be available to them in adulthood, so long as the info of unrelated people are protected. I can't imagine why the agency wouldn't have your foster care file, though. That's terrible. :-(
I don't have an answer for you, but I think this is a really good question.
I don't share the same experience (the only people that cared for me before my adoptive parents was my parent's lawyer and his wife who are close family friends and this was for a month), but now that you bring it up, I wonder how much information foster parents keep (either for themselves or otherwise).
I wish you luck finding this information. Like I said, I don't have an answer, but I am now curious about this too. Way to make me think lol.
ETA: small world we live in--I was born and raised Kentucky lol...just thought I'd throw that out there even though it adds nothing (I'm in a slightly zany, upbeat world today).