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A little info:
I am in citrus co FL and I am trying to adopt my nephew who lives in WV. He was taken from my sister back in Feb of this year due to drug issues and other problems. I am in contact with the social worker in WV and she received conformation that Florida has received the paper work to get the interstate something something placement done (I forgot what the name was). Nobody has contacted me down here yet for my home study and I have no clue as to who I should be getting a hold of down here to try to get things moving. The social worker is going to talk to her supervisor to see how she can get things to move along but said that FL doesn't have a good track record of moving fast as compared to other states that she has worked with.
My sister is willing to sign her rights over to me, she is going to lose them anyways, and the only other hurdle is my nephew's father. He had told the social worker that he thinks I am a good mother and that I will be good to his son but expresses concerns over his son moving so far away. He hasn't done a thing for my nephew in all 8 1/2 years of his life except threaten to hurt him and even worse. I have told the social worker all of this months ago.
What is done at the home study?
What are they looking for?
Is there and income limit?
Any contact numbers?
Let_it_Be
I am in contact with the social worker in WV and she received conformation that Florida has received the paper work to get the interstate something something placement done (I forgot what the name was).
ICPC=interstate compact to placement of children. Their website is: [URL="http://icpc.aphsa.org/Home/home_news.asp"]AAICPC | an :: APHSA :: Affiliate[/URL]
The social worker is going to talk to her supervisor to see how she can get things to move along but said that FL doesn't have a good track record of moving fast as compared to other states that she has worked with.
I'm in NE Florida and we currently have our niece living with us from Idaho. It took us 11 months to get her here (Due to foster family fighting the move to us) and us having to become licensed foster parents and also the ICPC is slow! I don't know about central Florida and their SW's but my experience has been that they have so many cases and are so backlogged that sometimes the ICPC's end up taking along time to complete. I hope you get lucky!!!
My sister is willing to sign her rights over to me, she is going to lose them anyways, and the only other hurdle is my nephew's father.
Are you wanting to adopt your nephew? We are in the process of adopting our 8 yr old niece. She's been with us since June 30th 2007 and Idaho is just now getting our adoption home study! All because the ICPC got stuck in Tallahassee before moving to Idaho. In order to adopt him you'll need TPR on both parents. In our case bio mom signed away voluntarilly and biodad was TPR'd by default (he was on the run from the law and is now currently facing a lengthy prison term). A question to ask WV is will they move the child out of state when TPR is not occuring on biodad yet...he may be still entitled to visits?
What is done at the home study?
Are you doing kinship or foster care? We did complete foster care in order to have more resources and more money plus Idaho required us to be fully licensed foster parents.
What are they looking for?
They will check for different things such as are you a stable home for the child, is your home safe for the child, do you have the financial resources (don't rely on money from them), etc..and they will interview you and do visits to your home.
Is there and income limit?
All they asked for us was what our income and debts were and we were required to support ourselves without the foster care stipend. As long as you can pay your bills then you will be fine.
Any contact numbers?
Look in your phone book under the blue pages and look for department of health and welfare. There may be a foster care section and call that number and explain your situation. I have alot of contact names and numbers if you lived in my area. Sorry I'm not familiar with central Florida (BTW: We're going to Disney this weekend...taking our niece for her 1st visit and we're excited!)...
I highly suggest you find the local DCF office in your town and get the ball rolling! It can take months to finish a home study and that is months you can save if you do it while the ICPC is being done. We started in August 2006 to bring our niece home here and it took 11 mos to get her here and we are going on 1 yr of her being in our home and her adoption is still not finalized. The ICPC got stuck in various places, SW's made various excuses, and it's very frustrating! Best bet for you is to proactive and get your home study started NOW!
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I am hoping it wont take that long. 11 months, just seems like forever away.
I have no problems with the foster family, the foster mom has given me her cell phone number and I get to call my nephew and she has me on speed dial so whenever he wants he can call me. She is trying her best up there to help things move along on the WV side of things.
As far as the father goes, he doesn't have any visitation right now. He has been refusing to go to any of the drug screenings and he failed the one ordered by the judge at the last court hearing last month. The next court date is in the first week of June and I hope they TPR him then. The next MDT meeting is this Wed, he didn't show up to the last one and don't know if he has any plans to show up to this one.
I just feel so lost in a big world, this is all new to me. I keep looking online for foster care in my county and came up with kids central. I just sent them an email and wrote down some telephone numbers so I can get on the horn tomorrow. I hope I come back with some good news.
Just keep on them and whomever you can get involved, get involved. In the beginning our holdup was the foster family fighting movement to us (they wanted to adopt our niece and were never told we were in the picture-they allowed phone visits too but when it came down to moving her here they faught us in court) and then the ICPC paperwork getting held up on someone desk. Now it's the ICPC paperwork again getting held up in Tallahassee. Idaho sent the adoption home study request back in Dec 2007 to Florida. Our local office here recvd the request, sent the home study back thru Tallahassee and then Tallahassee refused to send it on to Idaho because they claimed the home study request was never recvd by Tallahassee (someone LOST our paperwork between sending it to our local DCF office and the local office sending the home study back to Tallahassee!). It's frustrating and our attorney here claims that's normal! Geeze...I have read that it can take up to 2 yrs for an ICPC to be completed and that's crazy. We had to hire an attorney in Idaho to move the case along and prove we were serious to DCF and the former FP's and we also hired an attorney here in Florida to help the case move along here. My husband has been calling Tallahassee (ICPC Administration office) for updates on our ICPC (If you need any information at all/phone numbers on the ICPC then I have that-We have been on this case since August 2006 calling everyone we can think of, even the Governor of Idaho) because the home study still has not made it to the SW"s hands in Idaho yet so we can finalize the adoption. When hubby called on Friday they said that the adoption home study was approved and it was being sent on and they could not give ANY reason as to why it was sitting on someones desk for 3 months...ugh. Now we're working on the adoption subsidy side and hoping once that is resolved with Idaho we can move to finalization...after all is said and done it will be at least 2 yrs since we started this process...
Check with the State of Florida Foster Care information. If you go to the DCF website and look for thinking of fostering there is a phone number, call them and they will give you the information for your local foster care agency. Once you get that number give them a call and speak to a supervisor and let them know your situation.
I went to DCF today and told them the situation, they haven't received any of the paper work but gave me the number to KCI (the local network). I called them and they said that they do have the papers and gave me the number to the lady in charge of license. She wasn't at her desk so I left her a message and will call her back tomorrow if I haven't heard from her. Also DCF gave me the number for the lady that deals with the ICPC and I am to give her a call tomorrow because she was at training today.
I had called the SW up in WV and gave her the numbers and names that I was given so that she and her supervisor can harp on these people too. I get to sit in on the MDT meeting tomorrow through the phone so I can let all the lawyers up there know that I am doing everything I can to get him down here. If I don't have him down here before Aug. (not going to hold my breath) I get to pick him up for a few weeks. The SW is a little scared of how we could explain him coming down here for a few weeks then having to go back to WV until this is all said and done. So we are not going to bring him down here to florida we are going to take him to Pa with us to visit DH's family for two weeks so it will be more like taking him on vacation with us.
WV has everything all ready for him to come down here they are just waiting for Florida to send the okay. So I will be calling all these people everyday til I get him.
Thanks for all your help and support.
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Let_it_Be
WV has everything all ready for him to come down here they are just waiting for Florida to send the okay.
Did they say what they are requiring you do to be approved? Normally each state has requirements. I know in our case we had to go by Idaho's requirements in order to move our niece down here and they required a full foster care license.
So I will be calling all these people everyday til I get him.
You have to do that. We did that for 9 months straight and it was funny cause the SW's supervisor was standing watching a skydiver jump off a bridge in Idaho (we were visiting with our niece and attending a court hearing) and we happened to be at that same bridge...and she recognized my husband by his VOICE! She had spoken to him so much she knew his voice LMAO...it was so funny!
I hope your ICPC runs much smoother then ours is! It is a crazy system to have to deal with! Are they doing court hearing in WV? If they do get them to put you in as placement before you move him with you. Our nieces court hearings are all held in Idaho (we receive our foster care stipend from Idaho and they hold her case still) and the last permanency hearing they added us as "Adoption placement" for her.
I'd also find out about TPR on biodad from WV. Are they going to TPR him involuntarilly?
When you speak to the ICPC person also inquire about the month visit you are allowed via the ICPC guidelines. You may be able to have him visit for a month even before the ICPC is completed.