interstate adoption?

I am not adopting per se yet however we are trying to foster to adopt our Niece in another state. The process is long. You have to go thru the ICPC process (Interstate compact on the placement of children act) [url=http://glossary.adoption.com/interstate-compact-on-the-placement-of-children-(icpc).html]Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) Definition - Adoption Glossary, Dictionary, T[/url][URL="http://icpc.aphsa.org"][/URL]. In our case we had to actually become foster parents and get licensed which has taken 2 months and now another 3-4 weeks and we'll have our license as foster parents. Our home study is complete and has been sent to where our Niece is at for them. I know in our MAPP class they did say if it's not aggravated circumstances (bad abuse-which our case is) it can take sometime a year or 2 for the ICPC alone. If you have state reps on your side that may help speed up the process. We got everyone we could find involved in our case to push the papers thru faster and get our home study done faster. I'm sorry I can't help much! We are hoping to have an answer by Christmas as to if our Niece comes to live with us! Praying for the best!

I too am gong absolutely nutty.. We started this process about 1 1/2 years ago, went through, app, home visit, crim cks and then found that we werent married long enough. Now,, since October we have been trying to get the ball rolling once again, and have only gotten our crim cks completed. This is becoming very frustrating for us. I understand the wait, but I did expect the home visit to have already been done. We were told that new MAPP classes dont start until after the holidays. We are so very disappointed, this process is hard.. I have emailed, called etc.. only to get some very short answers and responses. We too are hoping to adopt a large siblings group. Does anyone have any advice for us? Is there no where else to begin our MAPP classes instead of going through DSS? I also would like to know if there is a way to make this process go faster.. What about subsidy and reimbursements? And seeing the birth parents after the adoption? Is that a requirement?? I have so many unanswered questions. I wish I could pick another route, but finances dont allow for that..

We began our foster parenting licensure in NC. North Carolina DOES have an alternative to MAPP classes for rural families or other families who can't fit the MAPP classes into their schedules. I would call your county and be persistent about what your other options are.

Hi! We took our foster/adopt classes ( what you call MAPP -I"m assuming?) at a local technical college, the classes are only offered 2x a year, I'm not sure if that is an option where you live, but it's another place to check into. We had to sign up for our classes 6 months ahead of time because they fill so quickly. apparently there's too many willing adoptive parents and not enough kids available,because we still don't have kids and it's been months since we've been approved!

Oregon does out of state adoptions and not only can you go through NWAE to seen kids you can also look at boysandgirlsaid.org to see more of their kids. We are adopting out of Oregon and ICPC is only taking up to a month once you have been selected in committee. They do have the committee process to go through which can take a while(3 months for us), but they also have a low disruption rate. They have been very good to work with and very honest. Good for you on taking the reins to find your children!BTW we have been officially waiting a year and 3 months so have patience. Happy Holidays:love:

Just wanted to say that Oregon's ICPC took two weeks.