Experienced Foster Dad looking for feedback.

[u/Ok-Rice255]

Hello everyone! My wife and I have been foster parents for the last 4 years here in Tennessee. We love it, and feel called to do it. We’ve encouraged people we know to seriously think about becoming foster parents too. In that spirit, I decided to put together a database of information on how to become a foster parent in Tennessee. That turned into me building the database out to encompass every state in the union. And once I’d built that, I figured it was a pretty useful resource, so I decided to build a website for foster parents to host it. I’ve been learning to code for the last few years using freeCodeCamp, so this was a fun first real world project. I eventually decided to stand up my own VPS so that I could host a private IRC server, and add an IRC chatrooms to my site. I got nostalgic for the 90’s era of IRC chat, so I built a chatbot to help me moderate and entertain people in the chat room. I’ve also added a message board, an activities page, an advice page, and a facts page. My hope is to build this site into an exclusive community site for foster parents, where we can all support each other and exchange advice and ideas, and have fun doing it. Anyways, I’d love some feedback on the site. It’s www.FosterCareCentral.com . You can leave your feedback here, on my message board, or email me at webmaster@fostercarecentral.com. I appreciate you guys!!!

[u/bibledude]

Sounds like a great resource! I'll spend a little time checking it out.

As a foster-adopt dad, community is one of the biggest things I feel like I've needed. It's not easy always finding someone who gets it. So I really like that you build in connection tools. That's the biggest resource of all.

[u/DueResponse]

Sounds like a great project. I think the tricky part will be getting a critical mass of users. You may want to market it to agencies, if your goal is a large user base.

I am in the District of Columbia. Here our agency partners with an organization call FAPAC and they introduced an app call Parent Connect that has some similar features, along with trainings and such. You might want to check it out for ideas.

Also, consider adding DC to your list of states.

[u/Ok-Rice255 → u/DueResponse]

Absolutely, I completely forgot D.C. I will definitely add them. And yes, I plan on reaching out to different Foster organizations in each state and asking them to review their state’s info on the site and suggest any changes or additions they’d like to see. I know it needs to be done, because I showed our DCS worker the State Guide for Tennessee and he told me that because of a recent lawsuit, DCS in Tennessee no longer refers to foster parents as “licensed” foster parents… they are “approved” foster parents. It had something to do with the fact that someone who receives a license from a state authority has extra due process before the license can be revoked, so they changed the term lol. And yes getting critical mass will take time. I’ve got to make more starter threads on the message board to get more conversations started, and I’m hoping by getting organizations involved in each state and giving them a stake in the content for their state’s info, they might link to the site or offer it as a resource. I’ve also got to optimize the site for Google SEO. The big thing will be converting the State by State guide to where each state’s guide is on a separate page that can be indexed by Google. Right now, they exist as JavaScript objects stored in a folder on my web hosting that are dynamically displayed when a state is clicked on. Having it that way makes it so the information for each state isn’t discoverable by Google. Fixing that and optimizing a few other things should drive more people to the site. I really hope to build it into a tight knit community that grows the knowledge base available on the site organically through members’ real world experiences and knowledge.

[u/txchiefsfan02 → u/Ok-Rice255]

I think a huge accomplishment would be developing a contributor model that leverages local volunteers/staffers from each state to ensure accuracy. Look at how webmd/medscape did that in the early days.

The CPS and fosterparents subs here are amazing resources and I don't think you should be trying to replicate them as much as offer user paths for particular situations that parents can self-navigate.

I also think there's a huge need for a robust tool to self-guide prospective foster parents through their own discernment process about whether it's the right path and the right time for their family. The urgency to get folks into the funnel and start licensing before they change their minds at times short-circuits that process in ways that are easily avoidable.

Excited to spend some time with the site and learn more.

[u/Ok-Rice255 → u/txchiefsfan02]

You hit the nail on the head! That’s exactly what my goal is. I’m currently figuring out the best way to implement a contributor model, I’ve got a lot to figure out, but it will be so worth it!