Waiting children in Missouri

[url]http://www.dss.mo.gov/cd/adopt/[/url] This covers the state. Keep in mind, it seems that most of these kiddos on here have been on there for a while or there may be a reason (special needs/behavior challenges/etc) that they are on here...I don't think it shows every child that is available. It's a start though.

Adoption photolisting provides a link to all states and their photolisting of availabe children. Good luck!

:coffee: We are just finishing are home study private not state. Do you have to have a state done home study to adopt from the state? Have found a child on the state web site. Thanks Bree

Hi! It has been a LONG time since I was on this board! Just a quick update - we adopted our son and daughter (ages 4 and 5) back in February! They have been in our home nearly a year now and everything is going so well. It was so weird - we found out nearly exactly a year ago that we had been selected for a sibling group in Nevada and then for the sibling group here in Missouri. We took a slight legal risk with the kids here in Missouri, and we are SO glad everything worked out. So, if anyone is still looking for their forever kids in Missouri, don;t give up!

After looking in your area for 6 months, you can start looking out of state. Most states have their own photolistings. I had more out of state leads than any hope with my social worker. I would also suggest going to an adoption support group and meeting other people involved in adoption. We got our 3 month old healthy baby girl through a lead from some acquaintances. We still wouldn't have a child if we had waited on our social worker. Also, Ohio and Oregon seem to have the most young children available. Good luck!!

How did you do that, did your adoption unit case worker get upset. How did the foster side workers work with you. I have been with Children Services for 2.5 years and only 1 staffing. I am thinking about fostering. Could you give me some advise?

If you are in Mo and having trouble getting matched with kids, I would suggest getting on [url=http://www.mfcaa.org]Home[/url] 's mailing list. I get several emails a week from them looking to place foster and adoptive kids from different areas around MO. It might speed things up for you.

Jackson County Missouri has a yahoo group you should join. Porfiles are posted on this site on a regular basis from workers throughout the state. JCFAP@yahoogroups.com

But I heard that if you are not within 60 miles of KC you aren't even considered. I have said I am interested in several kids in the KC Missouri area and have never heard a word afterwards. I live in St. Louis County, and I am with the City of St. Louis DFS.

It is DFS policy that you can look anywhere after 6 months. My adoption worker there helped me out with all of the out of state stuff. She said it was her job to help me with all that stuff. SHe was great. You can look for kids on the other state photolistings, then get their info and send it wo your worker, and if appropriate, she will send your homestudy to the out of state social worker representing the child you are interested in. Our DD came from an agency in STL county. Our adoption worker even attended the staffing to represent us.The photolistings usually tell you how they want you to inquire. If there is a phone number just give them a call. Sometimes, it states that they only want to hear from your worker.I would get a notebook and make entries for each kid you express interest in and what actions have been taken. We applied for about 50 different kids and it was hard to keep track. Most of the time, we never heard anything back.

Where do you live in MO? I foster quite a bit through Cornerstones of Care and they have partnered with Wendy's Wonderful Kids to do adoption events a few times in the past - we met my last kiddo's adoptive parents at one of these events last year! I would suggest getting in with the agencies around you as much as possible to make contacts and get your name on their radar. You may be able to volunteer as a mentor or something with some of these agencies, or just network as much as possible at any events they may have to meet potential kids and caseworkers. I currently have a couple of placements that we are going to be recruiting for :-D one is a 16yo AA girl and 8mo AA brother, as well as their almost 18yo AA brother who is currently saying he wants to go towards independent living, but the team is wanting him to have connection to a supportive family. The other is a caucasion sibling group of beautiful red-heads, 11yo boy, 9yo girl, and 6yo girl -absolutely adorable group. They all have some mild special needs, but are making AMAZING progress now in a stable home. Both of these sets of kiddos have family in KC area that would be positive to be able to maintain some contact with! PM me if anybody wants any more info!

They send emails of available kids around to all of the adoption specialists in each county in MO, who in turn send them to families in their county. We received 3 or 4 emails on Friday. There were 2 different 9-year-old girls in those emails. If you have not signed up for those emails, contact your agency to get yourself added. These kids have not been added to the photolisting yet, that is a last resort. Our county is having an ice cream social coming up soon. It may be on Monday (?) It is for available kids and potential familes in Greene Co. Where are you located? They host things like this at least 2X per year, maybe more. Other counties probably do the same.

How do you find out about those ice cream socials and other events? They don't seem to do anything like that in the St. Louis area. I know about the [URL="http://www.thecommunitypartnership.org/our_programs/community_and_youth_development/linking_hearts/"]linking hearts[/URL] event in Rolla every Sept. How do you find out about others throughout the state? I'd be interested in attending some of these.

I have tried to email the link you posted and was not able to get the email through. Can you tell me how I can get set up with this group? JCFAP@yahoogroups.com

Try this - jcfap-subscribe@yahoogroups.com I don't think it is an actual group, but more of an email chain. They talked of it briefly in our SPAULDING classes and it wasn't portrayed as a waiting/available child list at all. I just subscribed over the weekend and haven't gotten anything yet, so I'm not really sure.