Licensed to Foster/Adopt, finally!!

[Diva of Dragons]

Hey everyone!

I haven't been around for a while! DH and I have been frantically trying to get a ton of work done around our house so we could finally have our licensing home inspection.

The inspection was Thursday and we passed! Now, we wait for our adoptions worker to get home from vacation, just after New Year, to discuss our preferences/limitations. Then, we wait for placement. We have said that we are willing to take a higher than normal level of risk; meaning there is no guarantee that our first placement would be permanent, so we may not have to wait very long.Well see! It's finally starting to seem real!

Hope all is well with you all and that the holidays are going smoothly!!

 

[clarabelle]

Congratulations!
Will you get a baby/toddler or older child? or do you know?

I would love to hear more as it progresses-I find adoption and fostering fascinating and I am so glad there are nice people willing to foster.

 

[cheermom1]

that is awesome - my parents were foster parents for a very long time - one thing I will let you know is that most of the time it is not the kids you will have a problem with though...the agency itself you will find do some stupid things when it comes to the kids

one time they sent a boy to my parents that should not be with other children (sexual things he was inflicting on other children) and didn't tell mom and dad and he tried it with one of the girls that were there..mom and dad at that point found out and tried to get him somewhere that could help him and they refused to place him away from a house full of kids

I don't want to scare you just inform - I really hope you never have to go through something like this ...

but of course my parents had about 7 or 8 kids in their house - they were approved for 8 (big house) 2 boys rooms and 2 girls rooms

 

[ChrizJen]

Congrats!! How exciting for you!
I remember those days. It's a whirlwind of preparation!
We just passed the one year anniversary of the placement of our 2 yr old foster daughter. She was placed in our home on December 17, 2008. Our first Christmas together was a little crazy. She was (rightfully) frightened, and we all came down with a stomach bug, so it was less than pleasant! LOL Things are much better now, she's settled in, and we're hoping for a do-over this year!

If we had it all to do over, we wouldn't change a thing. But we're still not sure where the case is going, and it takes its toll on us emotionally at times. The one piece of advice I have for you once you get a placement is DON'T IGNORE YOUR INTUITION!!! If you feel that something in your case is not right, speak up!! Keep journals of things that happen. Write letters. Make phone calls!! Do whatever you feel is necessary to act in the best interest of a child! There are lots and lots of people in place who are supposedly there to help you and to protect the child. But what we've come to find out is that we are the ONLY TRUE ADVOCATES for our foster daughter. No one else seems to truly have her best interest in mind. It's so frustrating! Sometimes it seems like they're all ready to throw this poor baby under the bus just to get the case off of their desks!!

But when all is said and done, have fun! I cannot tell you the joy that having this precious little girl has brought to our lives. Even if it's not permanent, we've definitely been changed for the better by having her with us!!

We've not been doing this for very long, but if you ever have any questions, please feel free to ask! Good luck!! And here's hoping a quick placement for you!!

-Christal

 

[quentina]

Hey everyone!

I haven't been around for a while! DH and I have been frantically trying to get a ton of work done around our house so we could finally have our licensing home inspection.

The inspection was Thursday and we passed! Now, we wait for our adoptions worker to get home from vacation, just after New Year, to discuss our preferences/limitations. Then, we wait for placement. We have said that we are willing to take a higher than normal level of risk; meaning there is no guarantee that our first placement would be permanent, so we may not have to wait very long.Well see! It's finally starting to seem real!

Hope all is well with you all and that the holidays are going smoothly!!

Congrats....I have 2 adopted children due to this program. We are only to have one however, after about 4 months we got the.......she has a baby brother phone call.

It was 1.5 years from start to finalization.

Good luck, there are so many kids waiting for their forever home.

 

[autumnpalm]

Congratulations!! That is such an amazing thing.

 

[quasar4legs]

Congratulations to you and your hubby.

Your post brought back a lot of memories for me.

19 years ago we got a phone call to pick up our son (6 weeks old) a few days before Christmas and I still get tears in my eyes when I think about it. We held a great big 'drop in' welcome party and friends and family came and went all day. It was so exciting. We dashed up to the shops on Christmas Eve so that he could have his first photo with santa and it was our best Christmas ever.
Time seems to have passed so quickly but I can still remember the anxious waiting after we were approved to adopt.
When I look back, it really wasn't that long but at the time it felt like an eternity. I am also an adoptee and am very grateful for the life that I have had with my adoptive family.

Best wishes to you and I hope you have a very happy christmas and may all your dreams come true in 2010.

 

[ZachnElli]

Congrats!! How exciting for you!! We went straight for domestic adoption, I bow down to anyone who can foster to adopt! Best wishes in the New Year's for your possible child!

 

[Rose&Mike]

Congrats! We've been through a homestudy and all that other fun stuff. It's a lot of work. I'm really excited for you!

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

Congrats!! What an exciting journey you are about to embark on!!

We have adopted 4 children thru domestic adoption. We are currently awaiting our foster license again so we can foster for the agency. We had done it in the past. We care for the babies from birth to placement with an adoptive family. We have had babies as little as 1 day and as long as 1 month. My BFF(was ds10 foster mom) had a baby for 4 months. She said that was hard to do. The agency is in the mist of changing of social workers so we are waiting till the new one gets a bit settled.

DD2 was a not planned adoption. They had called us to help network to find him a home. I jokingly said 'We will take him!" An hr later I was calling back to see how much it would cost. 2.5 wks later he came home to us. It was totally unplanned- kindof a spur of the moment thing. I left it up to DH to decide. We had been fostering for a yr at that time. I said either we keep fostering or we add to our family. He totally blew us away when he let DD4 decide!! He knew all the dc wanted a forever baby. dd4 jumped ontop of DH on the day he said he would make his decision and said -- 'are we having a baby or not??" He said " What do u want?" Dd4 Jumped off the bed screaming "we are having a baby!!" It was soo priceless. Our life seems soo much more complete.

Another idea is to take photos of the kids too. That way u have photos to mark progress and cherish if u are able to adopt them. We take tons of photos of our foster babies both for the birth and adoptive families.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[alizesmom]

Congratulations! Foster to adopt is great as long as you have the patience of Job with the paperwork. We adopted 2 so far and are working on getting another one (or two).

 

[Diva of Dragons]

Thanks everyone!! It's so great to hear your success stories ans advice!! Congratulations to all of you who have been here, done this, so to speak. LOL!

We have asked for 1 or 2 girls aged 0-5. However, if there is a sib set, or something and one of them is a little older, that's fine too. It just depends on the situation and if it's a good match for them and us. We're no spring chickens, so don't NEED or necessarily want to have a baby, if you know what I mean!

We are working directly through the County and Orange County is considered one of the best in the country for their Foster/Adopt program. There are tons of resources, even with the massive budget cuts this last year. So far everything has gone really smoothly, and everyone we've worked with has been really great, so let's hope that continues!