Private agency vs. DSS??

I also live in Maryland and go through DSS. They have sent my homestudy to other states. The adoption spec. handles this. I do have to send them a release for them to release my homestudy to the agency that is requesting it.

I am also in Maryland. We are currently placed with a 7 yo girl who is from PA. We sent through Adoptions Together, which is located in Baltimore and Silver Spring. They have a program specifically for adopting older children from foster care. We looked both in Maryland and all over the US. They sent our home study everywhere. I would highly recommend them.

Thank you for your responses. I am excited to hear that I can use DSS for other states as well. About Adoptions Together...don't they charge quite a bit for their services? Or is it a lower price to adopt an older foster child versus an infant? Sorry to sound so dumb, but we have just started working on this and we're very lost!

Zacsmom - Adoptions Together is expensive for infant or international adoptions. For Foster Child adoptions, it is not. Their program for older child adoptions is called Adoption Works. We have had to pay for our homestudy (I don't remember the amount, but it wasn't as much as I've seen other people quote). We also had to pay for things like our fingerprints, fire inspection, water inspection, etc. But, we get a $2000 reimbusement upon finalization for any adoption costs, so we should get it back. Just keep all receipts. Other than that, we haven't had to pay for anything. Adoptions Together is contracted through the state of Maryland to place the children in the state foster system that become available for adoption. They also help with children from other states. We sent out about 80 homestudies all over the nation, and they were very helpful. We ultimately found our daughter in PA. If you adopt out of state, you need to find a state that pays purchase of services. Otherwise you will have to pay the fee (its quite a bit, and again I don't remember how much). We were lucky in that PA doesn't pay purchase of service, but we talked them into it. So, don't take no for an answer. If I were you, I'd give Adoptions Together a call just to ask. Things may have changed, but the cost was not high at all when we went through the process. Good luck.

We also used Adoptions Together (Silver Spring Office) and were very pleased with our services ... for both an infant and older child adoption. AdoptionWorks was previously funded by the State of MD so all the families paid were out of pocket expenses initially (finger print, background checks, etc.) but do believe you now pay their homestudy fee ... but as noted by a previous poster - all expenses can be reimbursed if negotiated with the placing county/state at finalization so don't let the "funding" issue hold you back. I would definitely speak with them - if you are homestudied by DSS and you wish to use AdoptionWorks you also have to go through their training program ... you really don't need both so decide which services your wishes/needs best first. Hope this helps!

Thank you for all of the great information. It was very helpful & we will be contacting Adoptions Together. :)

Let us know what you find out from Adoptions Together.