One of the first things you will need to do when you start your foster care journey is go shopping. You need to have the room or rooms ready for a kid when you're home study is done, the house needs to be perfect and kid ready at all times. Luckily I have tons of nieces and nephews so I was able to pull from that and figure out what different age groups needed. I'm just going to list some of them for you so you can be prepared when the time comes.
*Bed-this can be a twin, full, bunk bed, crib whatever age group you have make it appropriate for them. We chose to get a crib, toddler bed, and a few twin beds.
*Bedding-this is a little harder, you don't know the age or anything about the child so picking their bedding can be weird. We went with a solid bedding in neutral colors for all three rooms.
*Toys-let's face it. Kids love playing. It is an awesome outlet and they needed it, try not to overdue the toys though but a handful for each age and gender that you could end up with is helpful.
*Family movies-One thing we love doing as a family is having family movie night, even when it was just my husband and I popping popcorn and watching a movie was the best. We wanted the kids to know they're part of the family so we got pretty much every Disney movie we could find.
*Personal care items-This might seem stupid that I have to list this, but the cashier at Target was confused when we bought so much stuff so we told her what we were doing and she was surprised they "Didn't come with a tooth brush". Sadly, they normally don't. Be sure to stock up on tooth brushes, tooth paste, mouthwash, kids shampoo, body wash. Pretty much go down the personal care item at Target and if it says "Kids" on it scoop that up.
*Lice shampoo-I can NOT stress this enough, get lice shampoo. My son came to us and we almost had to shave his head. My sister, luckily for me not so much for her, had lice a lot growing up so she knew a few secrets we could try in a pinch but I suggest just buying the shampoo ahead of time.
*Car Seats-this is another obvious one, but surprised some people. No the social worker isn't going to give you a car seat. Our social worker didn't even have a car seat in the car when they dropped our kids off. Have one for every age you are open to. A lot of the times you can get them from a friend when they're done. We didn't pay a dime for ours-except the car seat base-I do suggest making sure you know and trust someone before taking a used car seat since they do expire and can't be used after being in an accident.
*Clothes-Our kids had the clothes on their back and that was it. Their clothes didn't even fit correctly. Be sure to stock up as much as possible. We are fortunate enough to have a garage to store things in, I know this isn't the case for everyone so do what works for you. Labeling the boxes of clothes is so important. My husband figured out what size each kid needed when they came home and got the boxes out for them. It was comforting for the kids to know they had clean clothes. Thrift stores are a huge help in this area.
*School supplies-literally never thought of this, our kids were placed with us a little bit before school got out so we didn't have to send them, but when we were buying stuff this year I realized we had nothing purchased already. Have some stuff on hand just incase a school age child gets placed with you mid school year. It saves some stress.
*Child friendly snacks-my husband is a grown child when it comes to snacks so this was easy, but if I lived alone I wouldn't typically have fruit snacks purchased. It's a nice thing to have when they get there at an ungodly hour and can't sleep. It also shows them you're cool and eat fruit snacks-my son's logic.
*Booster seats/High Chairs-another thing that's easy to get if you know someone who has kids, we got a few of each because we literally had no clue what age we would end up with or how many kids.
I am sure there's a lot more things that I'm missing, but these were the most important for us. I always tell people to just think of what they need for daily living and those are the things these kids need. At the end of the day they're just kids so keep that in mind when shopping so you don't stress out too much!
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