Single parent fostering: Family Emergency - Adoption.com Forums

I'm a first-time foster parent. I began my training nearly 2 years ago - this is truly something I've wanted to do my entire life. My first placement has been with me for 4 months now and will not be returning home anytime soon based on the bio mom's situation.

I am single, and things have been going very well and both myself and foster child have been doing great. We're very compatible and there have been few, if any, complications.

Something has just happened though and I need serious advice. My mother passed away a year ago, and my dad (who lives 800 miles away) just had a stroke last week (he's been very healthy, and this was totally unexpected). He still lives at his own home, but now I really need to be there for him and may need to care for him during his recovery, or possibly move him into a long-term care facility depending on his diagnosis. I took this last week off work to help manage his care over the phone but at this point I need to be there in person for him.

What do I do? I need to be there for my dad and likely for a few weeks or possibly months (I have no siblings to help), yet I have an obligation to my foster child of course. Do I talk to the agency and have my foster child placed elsewhere? This just tears me up because I know stability is a critical factor for my foster child. We are very bonded and I'm not able to sleep at night and extremely distressed over this. I do not want to hurt my foster child or get in a bad position with the agency for future fostering.

Any advice would be very much appreciated! I will be discussing this with my case worker soon but need to organize my thoughts first so I can make a good decision.

Thank you.

Source: http://forums.adoption.com/foster-parent-support/407187-single-parent-fostering-family-emergency.html

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