PS-MAPP Session 1

Dan and I just got back from a weekend in Chicago with his mom and dad, and it was awesome! Very fun and very relaxing. I rode a train for the first time since I was three...turns out, the commuter train is nothing special. We got into town Friday evening around 8, and did dinner and hotel pool time that night. Saturday we visited the Field Museum and wandered around downtown (I love big cities! Dan, on the other hand, does not). Sunday was spent at IKEA and the Cheesecake Factory (Dan's one request for the trip). We came home with a new desk, new dishes, lots of little odds and ends, and a long to-do list!

Our PS-MAPP class started last Thursday. It was a pretty typical, FULL, first session class, lots of introductions and time for questions. The class is always taught by an employee of the agency that handles the paperwork in our state (a local non-profit) and a current, experienced foster parent. We found out that our foster parent leader has eight children (whhaaa??) and six of them have been or are in the process of being adopted from the foster care system. During introductions, we found out that some people had waited since last March to get into this class! I don't know their full story, but hearing that made me wonder how we got in so quickly...but I'm trusting there was a reason.

We talked a little about the kinds of children we could expect to see in foster care, and a little about relationships with birth parents. We did read a case study to introduce the kinds of supports that would be needed from foster parents in the reunification process, the kinds of things the state could require birth parents to do in order to regain custody, and we discussed how we would handle the situation personally. 

We ended up not getting through everything, so on top of the huge stack of paperwork we already had for homework, we were also directed to finish all the reading for Session 1. I can't believe how much paper this class requires! I swear we received an entire tree's worth in the first session. Homework this week consisted of our Parent Profile (how we were raised, what we believe, how we celebrate and mourn in our family, family traditions, relationships within the family, and 14 more pages) and our Couple Profile (how we interact as a couple, how that will change with a child, etc) and also our Home Study packet (all the necessary forms and agreements required by the state to foster). The Home Study packet and the profiles will be submitted at the end of our 10 week class along with the results and notes from our PS-MAPP instructors and the licensing staff who studies our house.

So, while we complete all the paperwork, we will work simultaneously to get our house ready. Our home study and all the paperwork must be submitted within 110 days of beginning class...so let the fun begin!