This is Foster Care Series: " A Moment's Notice"
When they say kids can come to your home on a moment's notice, it’s not an exaggeration. Our second foster care placement began with a call asking us to take placement of our foster daughter’s sibling. They called at 3 pm, and she was placed in our home by dinner time. We said yes and rushed around the house getting things ready to bring her home. While I washed up some bedding and set up the bed for her, I sent my mom to Walmart to buy clothing - multiple outfits, a winter coat, socks, and underwear. We didn’t know what she was coming with, but due to the short-notice emergency nature of the call, we figured she wasn’t bringing much (that assumption was correct).
While she was in our home, we navigated play therapy, Early Intervention, doctor appointments, Head Start, and other services to help support her learning and well-being. We also navigated supporting her through family visits, as her biological parent worked their case towards reunification.
We had heard stories from other foster families of sudden return home scenarios – where the agency or the judge ordered reunification to occur without a healthy transition plan in place. Thankfully, we were able to advocate for a slow transition to help her adjust, help our family process and grieve, and help her family prepare for her return home after 18 months in our home. After a few overnight visits, then weekend visits, the day finally came for the official return home.
We planned for a party at the park with her family, ours, and the caseworkers involved in her case. We made her favorite cake, we played, we laughed, got a large ‘family’ picture, and drove away with happy tears in our eyes and one less car seat filled in our car. It’s not often this is the case (even the caseworkers remarked that this was unusual!), so we were thankful for the opportunity to mark this transition with a celebration together.
It’s now a few years after the fact, and I am still blown away by it all. We are still in touch and have celebrated birthdays and more together through the years. If we hadn’t said “Yes” we would have missed this remarkable story of reunification and the relationship that has come out of it.