Placement question

I hear ya Cindy! I have really felt like giving up lately. I do not understand why, when there are so many children in the system who need homes, is navigating the system so hard? But, in the end, I feel like if it was something God didn't want me to do He wouldn't have giving me such a passion for it. Know what I mean? lela

Boy do I! My husband thinks they should set up a nationwide computer system that runs much like a dating service. The child's social worker inputs the child's stats and then the computer kicks out all parents that will match and vice versa. I said "Nawwwww, that would make too much sense, too easy, not enough red tape and beaurocracy" :). Keep praying, they'll come. He is faithful! Cindy

Cindylouwho, we adopted from San Bernardino County Fost/adopt. From application to placement it took 2 years. We asked for boy, 0 to 2. Our son is Caucasian/Native American. He came home at 8 weeks old. I called and bothered the social workers a lot. I am sure they were tired of hearing from me! We are approved to adopt again. This time we have asked for 1 or 2 boys, 0 to 6, special needs ok. The wait is very hard, even after being through this once before. As for girls.......I know an adoptive family who asked for a healthy, Caucasian, girl, 0 to 2 years. They said they waited 2 years for their daughter. The kids are out there! I think you would be placed sooner because of your experiences and the fact that you are open to race and disabilities. Good luck to you! Sonni

Thank you for the encouraging post! I hope your children find their way home soon. Cindy

Hello Everyone, I am so happy to have found this forum. My husband and I have been going through this process from application to final approval since May 2003. Our home study was approved in February 2004. I have been looking at children on the internet for quite some time now and have brought several to our placement counselor's attention. After finding out information on one little girl we were interested in, we found out she had medical issues that we were not equipped to handle. Then we were told about 2 girls who were up for adoption by our placement counselor to later be told they weren't available after all. We went to the agency to look at books of "waiting children" and then we found out today that all the little girls we inquired about were already placed and had been so for some time!!!! We came to the conclusion that the books were not updated and we feel like we are just spinning our wheels. Our placement counselor has just working at the agency so we don't know if she's not only new to the agency but to the positon as well. We had questions that she had trouble answering so this also concerned her. I'm guess I'm just venting because we're discouraged right now. I have taken steps to find out who our county social worker is and also found out some information from another social worker in Fresno County. It seems like you have to take certain matters into your own hands if you want answers. We are approved for both foster care and adoption. And my question for others who are approved for fost/adopt and have had children placed in their homes is do you receive your certification from the agency or the state and did you get it before a child was placed with you. Thanks for listening.

We have adopted both from a agency and from Fresno County. We have always had our certificate prior to a child being placed with us.As far as foster care goes we were never empty. Are you looking Just for a risk adopt or are you willing to do foster care and see if a child then becomes available.Also what type of child are you looking for?that can make all the difference in the world as to how long you wait.I have waited myself and can tell you it is the hardest part.Good Luck Mary

Mary, Thanks so much for responding to my post. We are looking for a little girl between the ages of infant to 3 years old ,African American, Biracial or Multiracial and are willing to extend that age out further. We would prefer to adopt but we would also take a foster child with the option to adopt. I'm afraid to do the Risk adoption. Not sure if my heart could take it. We are really considering foster care right now too. We have an appointment to look at the books of available children for Los Angeles County on Monday. The waiting is very hard but I feel much better because I'm doing research and finding resources that are getting my questions answered and I'm not just sitting waiting to hear from the sw. And thank you too for the certification information, the sw at the agency told us we wouldn't receive it until a child was placed in our home which just didn't sound right to me.

Mary, Thanks so much for responding to my post. We are looking for a little girl between the ages of infant to 3 years old ,African American, Biracial or Multiracial and are willing to extend that age out further. We would prefer to adopt but we would also take a foster child with the option to adopt. I'm afraid to do the Risk adoption. Not sure if my heart could take it. We are really considering foster care right now too. We have an appointment to look at the books of available children for Los Angeles County on Monday. The waiting is very hard but I feel much better because I'm doing research and finding resources that are getting my questions answered and I'm not just sitting waiting to hear from the sw. And thank you too for the certification information, the sw at the agency told us we wouldn't receive it until a child was placed in our home which just didn't sound right to me.

Little girls are sometimes harder to come by then little boys but I still don't think your wait should be too long. We have adopted 3 little girls the oldest at the time of placement was 2. One was a fostercare placement and in reunifaction with her ** but that didn't work out.I have found that the squeeky wheel gets the greese so don't be afraid to ask questions. If you are going through your county DCFS they should search state wide for you,but sometimes they don't.You may need to stay on top of them!!! Mary

Thank you again Mary, You have given me hope. We were going to through a state funded agency but I just figured why not contact DCFS directly and eliminate the middle man. So hopefully DCFS in L.A. and DCFS in Fresno will get us some results. I was told by sw in Fresno that she would keep our homestudy on her desk as propective parents but she did inform us that aparents from Fresno would get first consideration which is fine with us. We're just happy to know that we have more options than the agency. I choose Fresno county too because I was born and raised there. Thanks for your ear, information and encouragement. It is more helpful than you can imagine.

Hi everyone (Hi Cindy and Mary) I was here not too long ago complaining about our long wait.....well, we are no longer waiting. Two weeks ago we brought home our 3mo old daughter! We had been licensed for fost/adopt since Nov 03. We were open to either sex, special needs, any race, and risk. It still took us 6 months to get placed. Sometimes the problem is lack of communication within the county (or agency). I know in our case, once they started to rectify the communication issues, it took less than a month to get a child placed with us. Good luck to you. There really are children who need homes and the waiting really is the hardest part! lela

Congrats Lela!!!!!! A 3month old thats so awesome. Mary

Fantastic Lela! Congrats! What were the communication issues? Is there any advice you can give me so I might be able to move this thing along as well? Cindy

I was told that the communication between the children's workers and the family's workers had not been so good. It was kind of a "if a worker happened to be at her desk at the right time, she might hear about an available baby" sort of thing. Now they have a matching committee that is meeting regularly. My advice is the same as Mary's (good advice Mary :D )....keep calling. They'll get tired of hearing from you! Lela

Congratulations to you and your family Lela. What a blessing!