The Difficulties of Providing Foster Care in Michigan

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Recommended: the foster care system and its effects

“Foster care is a substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians because the guardians are no longer able to care for them. This includes, but is not limited to, placements in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities, child care institutions, and pre adoptive homes” (Johnson). To become a foster parent there are many steps. Each step is tedious in order to make sure that the parent(s) is safe and reliable enough to take care of children not their own. The difficulty to become a foster parent is seen from all aspects in getting stated in foster care. Foster parents have to decide whether or not they want to foster. They have to go to a detailed orientation that supplies them with multiple tips and gives the parents an idea of the tedious process and what to expect from foster care system. Then the soon-to-be parents must complete the application. Once all that is done, a home evaluation is required. The last, most time consuming step of the whole thing is the training courses that have to be done before a child is placed in your home.
First, fostering is making the decision to foster or not to foster. Because foster care is considered to be a temporary placement, it is not a good idea to become a foster parent with the expectation that one will always be able to adopt a child placed in their care. A foster parent is expected to work with the agency and birth parents in the hopes that the family will be reunited ("Michigan Foster Care and Adoption Guidelines"). Fostering is a tough decision to make; one needs to take into account all the lives that would be affected, the financial stability of the household, and the amount of patience ne...

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...=http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/0,4562,7-124-60126_7117---,00.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNE_S5wvs8GwNyV3h6PfNQIOvBXqeA>.
"Foster Care Heros." Foster Care to Success. Charity Navigator. Web. 15 Jan 2014. .
"Alpena." County Resources. Foster Care Navigator Program. Web. 15 Jan 2014. .
"Forms and Publications." Foster Care. Department of Human Resources, n.d. Web. 15 Jan 2014. .
"Financial Aid For Dependents, Homeless, Orphans, and Foster Youth or Wards of the Court." School Grants For. SchoolGrantsfor Editorial Team, 01 Jan. 2012. Web. 15 Jan 2014. .

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