The Houseparent Network

What Every Houseparent Needs to Know!
or
I Wish Somebody Would Have Told Me!
Part One

1. The residential child care industry is huge!!! Counting foster care, it is estimated that there are over 2 million kids in placement nationwide. Every state has several facilities and usually every community over 10,000 people has at least one facility. With that, there is a huge need for qualified houseparents. Salaries and benefits are growing and you don't have to work for $800 a month unless you want to. Do your home work, before you accept a position and you can make a decent living as a houseparent.

2. During the interview, don't believe everything an administrator tells you. They usually embellish.  In the very first facility we worked in, the administrator, in his recruiting pitch told us that, "the kids we get here are easy. Here in Wyoming they put kids in placement for smoking cigarettes."
    What we found out was that, there never was a child put in placement for smoking. But, they are put in placement for: Drug abuse, battery, burglary, and various other crimes. We had kids in placement that were sexual molesters, self-mutilators, Satanists, and had severe mental illness.

    I had an administrator at another facility tell me, "Our kids are easy. We are not a behavioral modification facility and none of our kids are court placed."
     That statement was mostly true. But, just because you are not B-mod and your kids are not court placed, does not mean that they are easy. Most kids that come from an environment that requires them to live with somebody other than their family, are going to have some emotional or behavioral problems. Again, we had drug abusers, thieves, kids with sexual problems, and kids that were violent.

     What's the point? Parenting is not easy, whether it's your kids or somebody else's. If an administrator tells you the kids are easy, say, "YA Right" and move on with the interview. If you are looking for something easy, your looking in the wrong place. Child care, although it can be very rewarding, is never easy!

Go to Part Two Go To Part Three