Questions about the homestudy process

Hi I am learing the works too but I will tell you what it is for me here in Montana. I was notified July 04 that my 2 nephews were up for adoption, they had already been in foster care for over a yr. I quickly called and started the paperwork process that you are doing, fingerprints ect. had all that turned in and compled by Aug. It is now Feb 05 and I am finally getting to take the 6 week training that is mandatory, homestudy is with this training, I am 2 weeks into the training. I felt my hands have been tied around my back and I am learning to "go with the flow" now, but in the meantime my nephews are in foster care and just waiting for my training to finally start. by the way my nephews are in a different state so there is 2 agencies involved. I am now hoping for a summer reunion. I thought it would be sept for school, that came and went so I hoped for christmas, that came and went. Summer??? we'll see. its a slow process. Cheryl

We are in the Clearwater area and by the time we were matched we had to update our homestudy and redo our fingerprints. It took 17.5 months from when the 1st homevisit took place. Good luck! It's worth all of the wait I'm now the mother to 2 beautiful children a girl 7 and a boy who just turned 4. I wouldn't change a thing!!!!!!!

Good News! I actually have the name of my caseworker who is going to be completing my homestudy. I had to be assigned someone from District 3 because I work for BBCBC (DCF) but the supervisor reassured me that I have a very good caseworker who completes homestudy in a fairly decent amount of time. I also asked about timeframes of getting the homestudy complete - it's 90 days from the time you graduate from MAPP classes (or at least in District 3)-mine is probably going to take longer because I have a caseworker from another district but maybe by end of April I will have a completed homestudy! I'll keep you up to date. I appreciate all of your input and encouragement. IT'S APPRECIATED! Vallerie

I am in Orlando and it took me about 7 months from the time that I started the MAPP class. I got my completed homestudy 2 weeks ago and I just had my first meet (at an adoption picnic) with my prospective child. I think it looks like it may work out and I want to schedule a second meet for this weekend. Good luck with your homestudy.

Well, I have my first meeting with my adoptions worker at my home on Friday. I've been finishing the things around the house that I know she will look at - fire and carbon monoxide alarms, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, locking up prescrip meds, etc. I've also been putting pictures of my family together in album and finishing the bedroom that will be my son or daughter's room. I hope everything goes well with your prospective child-I'm glad to hear that from MAPP to present it was only 7 months-it has been two months since MAPP for me. I'll keep you posted. Vallerie

We started MAPP in November, finshed in early January. Our MAPP instructor had us complete nearly all of the paperwork during the classes and we knew about the physicals, so we scheduled appointments during MAPP also. When we finished MAPP, all we had to do was get the moral character affidavits complete( took like 3 minutes), the physical forms completed( already had the physical like a month before the home study so we did not need another one) and the home visit, which happended in January also. SO since we started MAPP we are in month four of the process, with MAPP being the longest part. We will know in the middle of March if we are approved or not, according to our social worker and if we are, then we can meet some kids that month and possibly have one in our home this summer. We are in Lee county

Where do you get information about events like that? We have been approved just haven't received the paperwork yet. We are trying to adopt a child in the foster system. The only resources I have are a few photolisting sites. I feel like I'm not using all the resources out there but don't know where to find them. TIA Angela

Angela, What county are you in? Elaine

We're in Duval but we do not mind the road trip to another county. From what I understand Duval used to do stuff like this but stopped. I have heard that they may be starting it up again but haven't heard a time frame. Thanx.

From what I've been told. Gov. Bush doesn't like adoption events. He gave Hillsborough County a bunch of funds to put on an event called Camp Kool Kidz. The problem with this was that only couples and kids working with HKI were able to attend. It also had a terrible turnout this year and it went from a week long event to one that lasted just a few days. But in general, there isn't a lot of funding for these events so you will be seeing less of them. What agency are you working with? Is is a private agency contracted with DCF? In the late 90's, the FL legislature decided that foster children would be better served with community based programs. As a result, many of the counties are now run by private coalitions under one name. For example, Hillsborough licensing and care management is run by Hillsborough Kids, Inc. (HKI) which is an umbrella organization for several agencies (The Children's Home, Inc., Camelot, Catholic Charities, etc.). The removal of the children from homes is done by DCF but finding them foster homes, training foster/adoptive parents, processing adoptions, etc. is run by HKI. HKI has a multi-million dollar contract with the state to do this. In Pinellas and Pasco counties, the umbrella organization is Safe Children's Coalition (SCC). They took over from another agency that went bankrupt last year. They have had the contract for about 8 months. SCC is run by the Sarasota YMCA which has contracts for several counties in addition to Pinellas and Pasco. I believe Manatee, Sarasota and a few others. Licenses are given by SCC but the care management of the children is done by smaller agencies and vary by county. In Pinellas, care management (people that take care of kids) is done by Directions and another agency called Gulf Coast (something). In Pinellas, it is the Sherriff that pulls kids from their homes. If you are working with an agency like HKI or SCC, they should have assigned you someone to represent your interests. HKI calls these people Family Development Specialists. Once a month, Family Development Specialists meet with care managers (people managing the care of kids) to see what children are available for adoption and to discuss if there are approved families that will be a good "match" for them. It is important to realize that these meetings are only taking place in the county for that agency. So SCC in Pinellas will focus on Pinellas kids and potential parents, HKI will focus on Hillsborough kids and potential parents, etc. Florida does not have a state-wide matching process! This means you are limited in who your agency will consider a match. Also, you should know that most kids the enter the state system and have their parental rights terminated end up adopted by their foster parents. Those that you see on photolistings are free for adoption but for whatever reason were not adopted by their foster parents. It could also mean they reside at a residential facility. These kids are going to present a greater challenge to anyone considering them. Agencies are reluctant to go out of county for a variety of reasons so they drag their feet in responding to inquiries. If I were you, I would make up a family picture book and write something about yourselves. I would then find out who in Duval is responsible for doing the match process and make an appt. to meet with them. They might know of a child that's in the process of having their rights terminated and you might get lucky. You can also call the Florida Adoption Information Center at 1 800 96-ADOPT. Ask them who in Duval county is the agency contracted with DCF in your county. They can also give you the names and numbers of private agencies in your area but they will cost you.

We're working with Jewish Family and Community Services. You wouldn't happen to have links to some of these organizations, would you? I actually just got off the phone with Florida Adoption Information Center and they are sending me an information packet. Our homestudy is completed and waiting for a signature. After that they will send us a copy. I'm going to scan it and put it on a diskette to make it easier to send to agencies representing children we might be interested in. As far as the Family Picture Book, we did a nice album as part of our family profile so our case worker already has that. My sister who is into scrap booking helped me with it. You have been so much help. Thank you! I hope to pick your brain again. lol Angela

You are in Duval County? Here are the agencies in Duval [url]http://www.orgsites.com/fl/fssnf/[/url]