Agency Help

My husband and I moved from NJ to PA 2 years ago. We weren't foster parents in NJ though. PA has the Statewide Adoption Network (SWAN). You can become licensed either through the county you live in or private agencies. If you contact SWAN they will mail you a list of agencies in your area. With the county, you will only be placed with kids from that county, with the agencies, they work with different surrounding counties. Im licensed through an agency and althoug the county may pay slightly higher per diem for kids, the ease of having an agency has been oh so worth it. I have a 24 hr hotline for help, my worker helps with transportation for appointments, they help stay on top of the county worker, etc. What county you in? Now, I have no idea if you'll be able to transfer your NJ license. It may help in terms of speeding up the process b/c you were licensed before, but you may need to take the local training and redo all the requirements. In PA, if you haven't lived here for 5 years, then you have to do an FBI background check (fingerprints). That alone takes 30 days to get back (we had to do it). Im in Dauphin county (harrisburg) and know a few families more east of me (near philly, etc). So if you want to PM me where you are at, maybe I can put you in contact with them for agency recommendations. If you do a search for SWAN on the internet you should be able to get yourself started on getting the packet sent to you. Good luck.