What kind of support and help will I get from Safe Harbor?

If you are certified by Safe Harbor Family Services, Inc., you will have an agency social worker with a Master’s degree at your side. Your worker will visit your home biweekly and is always available by phone. The social worker comes along side to answer your questions, listen to your concerns and support your goals. The social worker will help you stay on top of the child’s needs. He or she will monitor the child’s progress in health, education, emotional well-being, relationships and skills development. Safe Harbor also provides a 24-hour emergency number to reach an on-call social worker anytime, day or night.

All bad?

BY NO MEANS!! There is nothing that compares to the feeling of joy that comes from watching a foster child turn the corner, and start to strive for success and happiness. When grades go from D’s and F’s to C’s, B’s and even A’s. When a child learns to try, trust, relate and even love. This is the true payment for the work we do. How often do you get a chance to change a life?

Are you willing to keep reading?

What are the foster children like?

The children we work with are typically from an environment of neglect, and often from a background of abuse. Their birth parents are sometimes on drugs or in jail. These kids have a hard time connecting with people, and usually don’t trust anybody. It’s likely they’re behind in school, and probably don’t care. You can talk to them about the need to study in order to be successful in life, but success may not be something they consider within their grasp. As a caregiver, you will feel like pulling your hair out because it often seems as though you come from different planets. It is the same planet, but a different world. Some people believe that the children will instantly feel and show love and appreciation when they come into their home. They think that their loving home will suddenly melt the child’s heart like a scene from Little House on the Prairie. That’s not the reality.

The reality is that foster children often require a lot of work and help. They need to go to the dentist, the doctor and the counselor. They have appointments with social workers, lawyers and judges. They may have special programs to help them get caught up at school. Some are in drug rehab programs. Some will cuss in your face and run away in the middle of the night. Many will not finish high school, and almost none will go to college. Some will never get the help they need.

Will I get training?

You will receive excellent training in a variety of areas. Safe Harbor provides full training before certification, and ongoing training throughout the year. We will also make you aware of other classes and seminars available in the area, and will assist you financially with registration. We want you to be the best-trained parents around. The children deserve it.

Will I get paid for being a foster parent?

Safe Harbor compensates its parents generously. The reason is that we want the best parents, and we want the parents to be able to provide well for the children. This is not a paycheck for employment. It is a reimbursement for the additional costs you incur taking care of the child. Our certified parents are expected to have a separate income sufficient to meet all of their own living expenses without needing to rely on the reimbursement we provide. So if you are looking for a source of additional income, we suggest you look for something else.

I’m a single parent, can I still apply?

Yes. We’re looking for caring people with a talent and heart for working with children, regardless of their marital status.

Do I need to own my own home?

No. You don’t have to own your house or condo, and can even live in an apartment, so long as you can provide a safe and loving home for foster children that meets state requirements.

Do you perform criminal background checks on prospective foster parents?

Yes. As required by law, we secure fingerprint clearances on all prospective parents, as well as any other adults living in the home.

How long does it take to become certified by Safe Harbor?

The time varies, depending on individual circumstances. In the case of a prospective parent who is already certified with another foster family agency, we request transfer of your fingerprint clearances, which cuts down on some of the processing time. In any case, there is paperwork and training that needs to be completed, and how quickly that occurs often depends on the prospective parent’s schedule. Very generally speaking, the process can take from 30 to 90 days, depending on your particular circumstances. If you have already completed some of the preliminary requirements through another agency, the process will probably be faster.

How long after I’m certified before children will be placed in my home?

There’s really no way we can answer this. If certified, you will be contacted about foster children who are a suitable match for your home. If we receive a call about a teenager, we probably won’t call you if you have stated a preference for children under the age of 12. If the county placement worker wants the child placed in his or her home county to allow for frequent contact with the child’s birth parents, we will call only certified parents who live in that county. These are just some of the circumstances that can affect when we’ll call you.

What we can guarantee our certified parents is that when a referred child is a suitable match for their home, we will call them. And that we will continue to place children in their home even if they’ve declined a child we referred in the past. We strive to maintain an open and supportive relationship with our parents, and we trust in their judgment to make the best decisions for their entire family, including whether a particular child would make a good addition to it.

What does “suitable match” mean?

We want all families to be successful families. Toward that end, we want to trust that the child we refer will be compatible with the other members of your family, and that you feel comfortable with and able to handle any challenges they may present: a learning disability or attention-deficit disorder, problems in school, weekly counseling appointments, etc. We want any child placed in your home to find a secure berth with you, because stability is as critical for them as it is for your family.