OT-Foster to adopt interview questions

[holden]

Hi everyone! I know there are other foster parents on these boards who have adopted their foster children, so I thought I'd ask this question here. We are certified foster/adopt parents, and we adopted DD through foster care (it was an unusual situation, so our prior experience doesn't apply to the scenario I'm asking about here).

Our social worker contacted us about a child who is to be place in a pre-adoptive home (legal risk placement). We said that we were interested and our info was forwarded to the county agency. The social worker called again today to tell us that we were selected to be interviewed (there is also another family who will be interviewed). What kind of questions should we expect? Has anyone else done this type of interview before?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[stm61]

I'm interested in seeing what responses you get. We were already involved with foster parenting when we were approved for adoption, so we didn't start with the foster/adopt program. Though here, the need for foster parents is so great that everyone is basically on the same placement list. There's no children's shelter for under-teen ages so the kids go to whoever has room and is willing to accept the particular circumstances of the kids involved. If the initial foster family isn't interested in adopting the kids, are moved when their placement plan is changed to adoption. We did have an adoption case worker come out to do an interview before we were approved. I remember her asking why we wanted to adopt, what type of child we were interested in, why were we interested in adopting after doing just foster care for x number of years. It was very similar to the interview for foster care. They didn't have to redo the home inspection but they did ask for some updated financial information. I might have had the doctor fill out some forms, but I could be confusing that with the initial foster care paperwork. The case worker said we might be required to complete additional training, depending on the circumstances of the adoption, if we had a child who was freed for adoption. It's been about 14 years so I'm probably forgetting several things, and I'm sure things have changed since then. We had a break due to moving several times and are just starting to redo all the paperwork now.

 

[holden]

Yes, we also had those initial interview questions when we became foster parents and adoptive parents to our DD (and at each renewal of our certification). This baby is currently in foster care, but the foster mother does not want to adopt any children. The county social worker sent out an e-mail to the social workers in the area asking for an adoptive home for this baby. I guess they filter through the homestudies and try to find the best "match". The interview is part of that process.

Thanks for repsonding!

 

[adoptionmomma4]

How exciting for you and your family.

We had the same type of interview when we adopted our youngest DD. There were 4 other families being interviewed, but we were the lucky ones

As far as questions they were pretty much the same questions we were asked when we were interviewed for our license. I will try to remember a few of the different ones. It feels like so long a go that this happened. They asked about our child hood and how our other children will feel with a new baby in the house. They told us as much of the family info as they had and asked a lot of questions about our ability to handle any issues the baby may have in the future. They asked a lot of questions regarding a transracial adoption and how we, our older children and family/friends will accept this child. There was also an older sibling involved who had to be adopted by another family due to his issues. There were also questions as to whether we were open to contact with the sibling as well as possible visits. I guess we answered them well since we are approaching our 1-year adoption anniversary on November 15th, which is also National Adoption Day.

Good luck to you. Be yourself and answer everything as honest as possible. You will be fine. I think waiting for the meeting is harder than the meeting itself.

 

[holden]

What a lovely picutre of your family! Thanks for your repsonse. It makes me feel a little less nervous knowing what to expect.

The baby we are interested in is bi-racial, so we expect we'll get some questions about that. We figure if it's meant to be, it will all work out. If not, then at least she'll be with a loving family.

Thanks again!