Being A Foster Parent
By: Marnicia Moody
9/7/2014
ENG 121 English Composition I
Instructor: Sarah Young
pg 1
Being A Foster Parent
Being a foster parent is a choice that I made with a lot of support from my family and friends. I
have always wanted to adopt but never knew I could be a foster parent at such a young age or without
having a husband. In August of 2013 Telaunda, my close neighbor and friend, put me in contact with a
department of human services caseworker who came to my house to talk with me and give me
information about the program.
Me and Tanya, the Oak Plains Academy caseworker, sat at my dining room table to talk about
what I would need to get started. She had a binder full of papers and her phone was constantly going
off. I asked her if this job was hard and the challenges she had faced while doing this line of work while
she handed me papers. She then replied, 土es, this is an extremely difficult line of work but at the end of
the day it is worth it.She then explained to me what was on the papers she had given me. It was a
checklist that included everything I would need to open my home including, fire escape plan, back
ground check, and medical paperwork.
After a month, I finally completed the requirements and I was able to become employed
through a company called Oak Plains Academy. I have been taking children into my home for a year
now. I have had great accomplishments and failures with these children that Oak Plains Academy sends
me; with each case being unique and challenging in its own way.
I love that I have a chance to make a difference in a child 's life while still living my life. I accept
every child in to my home as if they were my own child. I usually get a child that has next to nothing so
the first thing I do is give them the ground rules for my house. Then I show them around the house and