How can foster parents keep communication lines open?

It takes special people with big hearts to create a foster home and become foster parents. One way for them to welcome children is to have a landline phone so they can keep in contact with their birth families and agency caregivers. Some states actually require foster families to have a landline phone in their homes for that reason.

But installing a traditional landline can be a pricey proposition, and some phone service providers don’t even offer the old copper line phones anymore. What’s a foster family to do? Installing a VoIP phone is a simple and affordable option, even in areas where having a landline phone isn’t a requirement. Let’s take a look at the benefits.

A great phone for a foster home

VoIP phones are an affordable way to have a family phone. In addition to saving money, the Ooma Family Phone Bundle can even help keep children safer. How?

• The phone has a pre-programmed 911 button, making it easy to call in an emergency. If you choose, your emergency contacts can receive a text and/or email alert automatically if someone at your home dials 911.
• Ooma Premier service can keep kids safe from scammers. Its advanced call blocking prevents known scammers from calling. You can also customize your service so only known contacts can get through.
• Because the VoIP landline phone is corded, it’s always in the same spot and is easy to find. This is important when you’re fostering children because nobody wants to search for a mobile phone or handset when they need urgent help. Sometimes, the “old-fashioned” way works best.

Helping foster care parents teach important life skills

Saving money isn’t the only benefit of VoIP phones, either. A VoIP home phone is a great resource to teach kids phone etiquette—particularly if they’re more accustomed to texting than talking on their cell phones. Proper phone etiquette translates into good communications skills overall, which is a valuable life skill. This includes not oversharing. Children need to understand how to protect themselves from unscrupulous callers and phishing schemes.

Home phones help foster families stay organized

While a landline phone isn’t going to clean the house or do the laundry (though we imagine efficient home AI robots will soon be available to handle such tasks), a home phone can keep your family organized. Here’s how:

• It’s stationary. A corded landline phone won’t get lost under the covers or be dropped in the toilet. Your VoIP phone helps keep foster homes organized by being in one designated spot, such as on the kitchen wall, ready to make or receive calls.
• It’s “command central”. A home phone is a centralized point of contact for the family, with a single number that’s easier for kids to memorize instead of multiple cell phone numbers.
• You can access it remotely. You don’t have to be home to use your home phone line. Because VoIP service transmits via the internet, you can take calls to your home phone using a mobile app on your smartphone, and keep track of incoming calls while you’re at work or running errands.
• First responders will know where to go in an emergency. One critical benefit of a home phone is that it will automatically relay your home address to emergency responders. A cell phone, by contrast, won’t ping to your precise location—and it might be lost in the couch at the crucial moment.
• It can block robocalls. Unlike home phones of old, which had no way to prevent pesky unsolicited calls at inopportune times, VoIP phones offer customizable call blocking so you can enjoy your meal or other activities uninterrupted. It’s a good opportunity for foster families to bond.

VoIP phone features are one of the benefits of the digital age. While it’s not a cell phone, we still think it can be a pretty smart choice for foster homes—and much less expensive.