Stomping My Foot in Frustration

As many of you know, John and I have been saying month after month, week after week, "We should have the license soon". Well, that day may never come (I am being slightly dramatic since I am mad, of course). 

Months ago I tried to get my fingerprinting completed, but someone misspelled my name when they put it in the system; not John's last name, just mine, which as you might recall is the same as his. Social worker called 3+ weeks ago and says we are all done. Time to sign official licensing paperwork and be on our way. Not long after that email came the, "Uh oh, I forgot you still need get fingerprinted" email.  If you have ever been fingerprinted then you know it is not quick. You make an appointment weeks out to secure a 10 min time slot. I mentioned all this in a previous post. Long story short, social worker came over with paperwork and said "Let's go ahead and have you sign, I mean I am sure you do not have anything crazy on your record. As soon as your fingerprints and background check come in we will send your paperwork for final review to the supervisor who will then send it to the VP of the agency who will sign your license. You should have it in no time."

 A week later I was able to get fingerprinted. Then we waited and waited. I was told the week before last they had the results, but the director was going to be out of town Wednesday-Friday; so we should have something the next week for sure (which was this week). I sent an email yesterday. 

      At 3:45 today I received an email with a list of items we now need due to a new policy that went into effect September 1st. 

This means if everything had been done, through no fault of our own when we were told it would be done we would have been licensed 6 weeks ago, and this new stack of paperwork they need now would not be an issue. Would you like to know what they need?
     1. 60 Days worth of pay stubs (already turned in a month's worth but now they want more due to the new policy)
     2. Last year's tax return (thankfully my amazing husband knew exactly where it was
     3. Household expense report (we turned in a financial snapshot our director thinks will be good enough meaning it probably won't be, because let's face it that is how the system works)
     4. Possibly 2 itemized banks statements (I am not doing this because that is taking it too far. Tax return should be more than good enough.)
     5. Renter's Insurance policy: the declaration page (I turned in an invoice which shows coverage, policy dates, company, and payment, but somehow this is insufficient.)

Just in case you missed the first 2 times I said it, this is all newly required information, September 1st.......this year, as in 30 days ago. 

Disappointed and demoralizing are putting it delicately when describing my [Husband edit: Our. Definitely OUR.] current feelings. John, again being the amazing person he is and whiz at filing, knows where most of these documents are, allowing us to turn them in tonight via email. However, who knows how slow everyone else will move on their end? I can't tell you how excited John and I were this week when we thought there was a chance we would have that license in our hot little hands. The crushing disappointment is an unfortunate  reminder the system we are getting into is broken. What has had me in tears this evening is realizing how frustrating this has been and we don't even have kids in the home yet. John and I were reminded that big ugly hurdles are yet to come. We never thought it would be easy, but we did think getting the license would be slightly easier. 

I cannot express how strongly John and I both feel the call of God on our lives to foster, but that doesn't mean it is easy by any stretch. Today was a rather harsh reminder of how difficult navigating the foster system is, and we haven't even really begun. To think about the kids whose lives, health, safety, happiness are dependent on "the system" is scary. Our future children will need love and prayers more than I think we ever expected. We will need love and prayers more than we expected...especially for patience and understanding for all those who work within in the system, I think everyone is doing their best. I hope.