You have been thinking about becoming a foster parent but you are not quite sure it is right for your family. Not every person or family is cut out to be foster parents. Understanding what is involved with parenting abuse or neglected children and how much of your time foster care will consume is the first step.

This is a decision that will impact every one in the household. If you have children at home this will probably have the greatest impact on them. It will be a huge adjustment for your children because of your time taken away from them and the behaviors, issues, etc. that most foster children will be dealing with. You can successfully foster parent while raising your own children (read more about children adjusting here).

Understand that these are not typical children. They have lived through a lot of trauma. You will be faced with behaviors that you probably never imagined. Every child and case will be different.

Time is a major factor is foster care. School can take up a lot of your time with teacher conferences, ARDs (special ed.) meetings, tutoring, etc. Doctor (sometimes monthly) and dentist appointments can also take a portion of your time. Multiple therapy appointments can make your schedule very busy. Then you have all the paperwork on top of all this. It can be done with organization (read more here about ">paperwork and organization ideas.

If you decide that foster parenting is not for you, or not what you want to wait there are other ways to get involved. Being a mentor for foster children can be a wonderful way to help a child. You can also choose to provide respite care for foster children and see if foster care is right for you. Tutoring at your local school can be a great benefit to children. Volunteering at camps for foster children can be a great way to work with foster children. Foster children that are attending college are in need of help, support and encouragement.