I've been the worst blogger. I have no excuse and I hope it doesn't come and bite me in the end. I've used this blog to record the details of Little Mighty's case. The visits have been unsupervised for a while now. They recently were extended and now the agency worker told me the county is extending them again. The bios have sent him back to me hungry (saying he ate) they've sent him back with a dirty diaper and wet. They've complained about almost everything I've put on him. I'm tired. I know he's going home and I've been waiting for the workers to tell me he's going for overnights. The bios have tried to end a visit over an hour early because they said he was sick. They wanted me to drop what I was doing and take him to the dr. they don't want him at their house when he's sick. I've tried to explain that there's nothing I can do for him that they can't. He is too young to know the difference...thank God. He is extremely delayed. He turns 18 months old this month and still doesn't have one word and has yet to try to take his first step. His core muscles are very loose. He is just a floppy boy. His therapist sees him 2x a week and is requesting that at the next evaluation meeting that we add speech. I have to be honest. I am afraid for him if/when he goes home. The bios present well so I know its just a matter of time. I am beyond frustrated with the system and I'm tired of the laws that protect the rights of the parent. My older kids have asked if we can take the summer off of fostering if he leaves. Court is next month (June). Unless we get called for a newborn... Lol.
Showing posts with label Failure to Thrive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Failure to Thrive. Show all posts
May 7, 2015
February 26, 2015
crazy ride...
Little Mighty's case is going nowhere fast. I spoke to the county worker (who is the 'horse's mouth', so to speak) She is leaving to go work for CPS. I wanted to know what the bios had to do towards reunification. She said they had to take parenting classes, mental health counseling, they have to understand the diagnosis of FAILURE TO THRIVE. They have to attend substance abuse counseling and dr's appointments for Little Mighty. They have to KEEP visiting with him and stop canceling. They have averaged one visit a week since December...canceling often. They also have to keep Bailey in counseling and follow through on doctor's orders for her. The main worker, Genie, has been supervising the majority of the visits so she is experiencing all kinds of crazy. She is seeing the ups and downs of bio mom and dad. It seems that if one is stable the other is not and vice versa.
Little Mighty is THRIVING! At 15 months old he is over 21 pounds and pulling to stand. He was not even sitting up back in October when he was placed here. He is crawling on all fours instead of doing the worm across the floor. He is pre-talking and babbling. His speech is probably at a 6-7 month age and his gross motor is around 10 1/2 months. I am so proud of his progress.
His bios think that I am the block to him going home. They think that I control the reunification process. Bio mom said yesterday that it's taking too long and the county should just 'take him' because he's never coming home anyway. They want to know why they can't have visits in my home and phone calls. (Usually visits are only held in the foster home if the bios are sane (they are not) and homeless (they are not). Phone calls wouldn't work either because Little Mighty can't speak. And to be brutally honest, it's not worth the 10 minutes of my time every night. I am fed up with them complaining about his clothes and his runny nose (it's winter in NY....EVERYONE has a runny nose). He is eating, sleeping, playing, peeing, pooping, fever free and happy...why would I take him to the dr??? I wish Genie would filter a bit more of the bios opinions.
The easiest part of foster care is taking care of the kids.
Little Mighty is THRIVING! At 15 months old he is over 21 pounds and pulling to stand. He was not even sitting up back in October when he was placed here. He is crawling on all fours instead of doing the worm across the floor. He is pre-talking and babbling. His speech is probably at a 6-7 month age and his gross motor is around 10 1/2 months. I am so proud of his progress.
His bios think that I am the block to him going home. They think that I control the reunification process. Bio mom said yesterday that it's taking too long and the county should just 'take him' because he's never coming home anyway. They want to know why they can't have visits in my home and phone calls. (Usually visits are only held in the foster home if the bios are sane (they are not) and homeless (they are not). Phone calls wouldn't work either because Little Mighty can't speak. And to be brutally honest, it's not worth the 10 minutes of my time every night. I am fed up with them complaining about his clothes and his runny nose (it's winter in NY....EVERYONE has a runny nose). He is eating, sleeping, playing, peeing, pooping, fever free and happy...why would I take him to the dr??? I wish Genie would filter a bit more of the bios opinions.
The easiest part of foster care is taking care of the kids.
November 2, 2014
Got a call...
I can't begin to tell you how defeated I felt after we asked The Lost Boy to be placed in another home. I questioned my ability to continue to foster and even turned down a few calls. I was afraid that the 'grace' had lifted and our time of foster care came to a crashing end. I couldn't even bow out gracefully. The home finder called me for a 3 year old girl who was on the Au*tism Spectru*m. She was non-verbal. I said no. They called me for a sibling set of 2 found wandering the streets in the county next to us. They were 2 and 3 years old. They called me AGAIN for the 3 year old girl. No placements just felt...right. I considered cleaning out my foster care stash and moving on with life. Sprout is almost 4 and we are out of the diapers, bottles and stroller stage. We pretty much can go anywhere and just get up and go. A few weeks went by and I got really comfortable just BEING a family...without foster care.
Then the phone rang.
It was a Friday afternoon (October 20th). The home finder called to tell me that they were expecting a child to be placed in care on Monday morning (3 days away). I said yes and asked her to keep me aware of what was going on but I truly did not expect her to call me back. Monday morning she called to tell me that this little one would be discharged later that day. He had been in the hospital since the 15th of October due to neglect and a suspicion of Failure to Thrive. I met the case worker up at the hospital and was introduced to this tiny, little boy. He looked right through me and my heart broke as I listened to the nurse tell me how neglected he was. She said that in the 5 days he was in the hospital he gained 2 pounds and came alive. With the hugs and love and FOOD from the nurses he was starting to show his personality. This sweet boy had been left in a car in a department store parking lot while BOTH of his parents and older sister went
in to shop. I know it sounds insane...but that's NOT what brought him into care. I'm still trying to understand the events that led him to us but it sounds as if the Dr was not happy with his growth. In fact, the bio parents switched Dr's because they didn't like what the Dr had to say about this boys weight. He has not been growing for quite a while and when the Dr sent them for blood work, they switched pediatric offices. The Dr at the new office sent him to the hospital and admitted him. So, he is here and doing well. For all this little one has endured in his short 11 months on earth, his blog name will be Little Mighty.
Then the phone rang.
It was a Friday afternoon (October 20th). The home finder called to tell me that they were expecting a child to be placed in care on Monday morning (3 days away). I said yes and asked her to keep me aware of what was going on but I truly did not expect her to call me back. Monday morning she called to tell me that this little one would be discharged later that day. He had been in the hospital since the 15th of October due to neglect and a suspicion of Failure to Thrive. I met the case worker up at the hospital and was introduced to this tiny, little boy. He looked right through me and my heart broke as I listened to the nurse tell me how neglected he was. She said that in the 5 days he was in the hospital he gained 2 pounds and came alive. With the hugs and love and FOOD from the nurses he was starting to show his personality. This sweet boy had been left in a car in a department store parking lot while BOTH of his parents and older sister went
in to shop. I know it sounds insane...but that's NOT what brought him into care. I'm still trying to understand the events that led him to us but it sounds as if the Dr was not happy with his growth. In fact, the bio parents switched Dr's because they didn't like what the Dr had to say about this boys weight. He has not been growing for quite a while and when the Dr sent them for blood work, they switched pediatric offices. The Dr at the new office sent him to the hospital and admitted him. So, he is here and doing well. For all this little one has endured in his short 11 months on earth, his blog name will be Little Mighty.
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