Newbie w/ Questions

1) How long will it take to become licensed? It varies based on how many weeks your classes are and how many people are in your class that have to have homestudies.. It took me a little over 2 months 2) While we expect to foster-adopt, will they try to match us with a child they know will be tpr'd? From what I've been told there is ALWAYS a chance of the child going back home to their parents or other relatives....and in my class the instuctor told us there is no such thing as a "foster to adopt" program in Florida.... She said they got too many people who were only doing it to get babies, so now if you take in any kids there is ALWAYS a risk of them being reunified....However there is also a lot that don't get reunified in my area.... (I don't know how it is done in your area) You may to ask that in your MAPP class 3) What is the likeliehood we will have more than 1 child placed in our home before we have a permanent placement? it depends..see the above question 4) Can we adopt from outside our area? You can..however they will have to amend your homestudy from a foster care homestudy to an adoption homestudy..(which doesn't seem to be too complicated) I am also trying to adopt a little girl in South Florida, but it will be a straight adoption if it happens...But I plan to keep fostering (with the hopes of adopting) as well

5) They said the honesetudy done for us up front on qualifies us for fostering, can we pay for an adoption home study on our own? Is there any advantage of doing so? See question above....Amending your homestudy is free from what I heard(or at least I haven't told me I had to pay for it in my situation)..I just contacted the adoption coordinator here and she told me to just send her a copy of my foster care homestudy and then she could send it out.....I wouldn't pay for a homestudy personally, some people say it helps speed up the process in their area..but my whole process wasn't that long 6) Is there anything we can do to make this process proceed more smoothly? BE PROACTIVE about getting all your paperwork done....and if they will let you..go and get all your reference forms and stand there while your references they sign them and then personally take them back or fax them back to your licensing worker....this was the biggest hold up for me... ALL my paperwork, background checks, health forms and family profile was complete and my references still weren't back..so I went and got more forms and had my references fill them and then I took them to my licensing worker..... Also if your licensing worker and Foster Support specialist don't call you..CALL THEM!!! (Don't be a pest, but if they haven't called you to update you on what is going on..give them a friendly little call) I have GREAT support and licensing workers....They call me all the time,I don't get a chance to call them....cause they are always calling me Also you have to have the bed already ready by the time your second homestudy visit.... You may want to get a crib that converts to a toddler bed...for the ages that you mentioned Also you may want to go ahead and get the smoke detectors (if you don't have them)...There needs to be one in the sleeping areas, and kitchen areas You will have to have a fire extinguisher (it has to be a certain kind, Ask what kind in your MAPP class) and it will need to be tagged and inspected. Also your hot water heater needs to be set to 120 degrees If you have a pool..you will have to have alarms on your doors, a ring bouy and I think a fence....(someone correct me if I am wrong) Your refrigerator tempature has to be a certain degrees... I just set mind to the coldest and that as fine for them... If you have well water it will need to be tested to make sure it doesn't have bacteria..the health department can assist you that Also if your house was built before 1978..You may have to have a lead test done on your paint The door knob on the kids room has to be able to be opened from outside and inside ..it should not have a lock on it.... Also you have to have all your medications and cleaners locked up

Hi.. Are you in MAPP classes at the Safe Children's Coalition? We're in Pinellas county through the SCC. They do things the same as they're all under the same umbrella. 1. Typically licensing can take weeks to months after MAPP. Many variables are involved, from the amount of people who submit for licensing, to how many people within DCF actually work on licensing. It took my wife and I close to 4 months after MAPP before we were licensed. We came to find out that there was only one person at DCF that approved the licensing applications for 3 counties. If you get all your paperwork in ASAP they'll know you're in this for real and they can try to expedite the licensing. 2. There are NO gurantees that a child placed in your home will be 'high risk', meaning that TPR is down the road. If a caseworker tells you otherwise DON'T believe them. Until the paperwork is signed and TPR is completed these kids can be placed elsewhere. Day in and day out you'll read in these forums that a child is going home or to a relative after being told they'd be available for adoption. Just remember that reunification is the primary goal, if it doesn't happen and no relatives come forwad you'll be their first consideration. 3. Considering you're doing foster/adopt chances are you'll have a foster child placed in your home long before you adopt. The only reason I'm saying this is your age ranges are very hard to come by when adopting. You're more likely to get a child under 4 placed as a foster child than to adopt a child under 4 right out of the gate. Given that, you're chances are better being able to adopt your foster child under the age of 4 if placed with you as a foster child. Case in point.. we have 3 foster children all under the age of 3. As it stands right now, we're most likely going to be able adopt at least 2 of them.. but we're waiting for everything to be set in stone. Had we just tried to adopt kids under the age of 3, we'd still be waiting. Not to mention that 99% of kids TPR'd under the age of 5 are adopted by their foster parents. 4. If you're working with the safe children's coalition as I suspect you are they make it difficult to adopt out of area/state. They will only do an adoption homestudy when you are matched with a child, and when you look out of area/state no one will talk to you unless you have an approved adoption homestudy. Also, it creates much more paperwork and headaches for your agency. Their attitude is why go out of state when we have so many children in florida up for adoption. They are normally unwilling to cooperate. 5. Again I'm assuming you're going through the Safe Children's Coalition. The adoption homestudy can be pricey, and they're only good for up to a year. So if you don't get matched with a child within that timeframe you'll have to do it all over again. The SCC normally takes your fostercare homestudy and copies it then edits it to create your adoption homestudy when you've been matched with a child. 6. Patience... get all your paperwork in ASAP. Get ready for your home inspection. If you want to be prepared in advance here's some things that may help. 1. Electrical covers on all open outlets. 2. Thermometers in all fridges/freezers. (health dept requirement) 3. Chemicals stored in a locked cabinet or garage. 4. Ceiling fans need to be dust free 5. Stock up on bottles and sippy cups. 6. Thrift stores and church sales are great places to load up on clothes of all sizes. If you have any other questions let me know7. Cribs, toddler beds and/or pack n plays will be needed in a room to show you have made sleeping arrangements for the baby/toddler. 8. If you have a pool, the doors leading out to the pool have to be alarmed and/or have child locks. 9. We also bought burner protection knobs, they're rubber devices that slide under the knobs on your stove that prevent the burner from being turned on. I believe a set of 5 was $5.00. They also have plastic snap on devices for door knobs that work wonders. 10. If you have pets, they need to have current vaccinations and you will need to provide proof. That also includes birds. 11. When you're about to start MAPP make a Dr appt for physicals, that's required paperwork too. They have a form the Dr needs to fill out. 12. Cords on blinds need to be rolled up, another little device thingy you can buy at home depot or lowes. Both stores have child safety sections. 13. Draw a floor plan of your house with dimensions of each room, then copy it to include a fire escape plan. (that's needed as part of your paperwork). Make copies of both, and hang up the fire escape plan/route in the kitchen or near the front door. They'll look for that. 14. Car seats! A must have before they place a child in your home. You need to have as many car seats as children. Call your local Florida Highway Patrol office and see if they have any car seat classes coming up. If they do attend the class and for a $10 donation you'll get a free NEW car seat, $20 gets you two, depending on availability. New they cost between $50 - $90. This saved us a fortune. That's all I can think of for now. I'd hold off on buying diapers. You never know what size you'll need until the kids are placed with you, they're expensive and you don't want to be stuck with ones you'll never use. Disclaimer :-) This was what was required in Pinellas County just over the bridge. I assume they're the same or very similar.

Everyone gave you wonderful information. I just wanted to say "hello" from North Port. We recently became licensed as foster/adopt parents in Dec. - we did this for a specific child who was out of state at the time. We also went thru safe children coalition. Good luck!

Thanks for the information. I knew you would have some great advice. A long term foster mom helps teach our MAPP classes and talked to DH & I last night. She showed us pictures from 2 families she know who have adopted young children. She said that while many families do reunite, there are still too many children waiting for forever families. That discussion gave us hope and confirmed our decision to adopt through DCF. (In fact I work with her husband and he was the one who originally suggested we adopt through DCF.) She made an interesting comment about how we should look at this as a way to make sure the child fits in our family. That seemed to put the foster-adopt experience in a better light, as we recognized the foster period was a time of adjustment for both families. CHEERS! Kathie

Ty for all the help being posted! Its so wonderful to see people helping one another. :flowergift: