Oct22
Info night: Is fostering for us?
6:30 PM · Porchlight front room
Two foster parents, one licensing worker, and coffee.
Thinking about fostering
What it takes, from people who've done it
Too many children from Wyandotte County are placed in another county, away from their school and their friends. More foster homes here would change that. Here is the honest version of what it involves.
The path in Kansas
Four to six months, in Kansas
Usually four to six months. You can stop at any point.
Step 1: Come to an info night
Ninety minutes on a Thursday with two foster parents and a licensing worker. No sign-up, no commitment, childcare provided.
Info night datesStep 2: Choose a licensing agency
In Kansas you're licensed through a child placing agency. We'll introduce you to the ones our families like, and tell you what they're like to work with.
Step 3: Training, about 30 hours
Usually one evening a week for ten weeks. It covers trauma, attachment, working with birth families and what happens in court.
Step 4: Home study and license
A worker visits, checks the house, and talks with everyone who lives there. Then your license arrives, and so does our first placement bag.
Info nights
Come and ask anything
Add to calendar
Nov5
Kinship caregivers: your rights and the money
6:30 PM · Argentine library meeting room
For grandparents and relatives already caring for a child.
Nov19
Info night en español
6:30 PM · Porchlight front room
Con dos familias de acogida que hablan español.
Nothing in that category this month.
Foster parents
What they wish they'd known
We waited until we felt ready. Nobody feels ready. You learn it with the kid in front of you.
I was single, renting, and working full time. The agency said yes to all three.
I aged out of care at eighteen. Now I'm the Teen Launch mentor I didn't have.
Common questions
Can I foster if…
…I rent, or live in an apartment?
Yes. You need a bedroom space for a child and a home that passes a safety check. Plenty of our families rent.
…I'm single?
Yes. About a third of the foster parents we support are single.
…I work full time?
Yes. Children in care go to school and daycare, and daycare help is usually available.
…I only want to do short-term or respite care?
Yes. Respite foster parents take children for a weekend to give other foster families a break, and they are badly needed.