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Okay we just finished our Home study and it is being turned in next Thursday. Once the okay comes we will need to do a Fire Inspection and then that is it!!!!
What happens after that and what is the estimated time frame until we actually get a placement?
Im kind of lost and dont know who to ask since our file is kind of with the home study lady who is not too sure what happens next. lol
After everything is approved and you are licensed you get to join the "waiting club". There really isn't much you can do. Depending on what age(s) you are asking for, you can get a room(s) ready if you haven't yet. You never know how long it will be until you get a placement. It probably depends on what you are asking for and what the need is in your area. We are in northern CA and are doing fost/adopt. We have been waiting 4 months for a placement and we are asking for a sib set of 2 - 3 under 7 years old. Every one (including our worker) said we wouldn't wait long. But, you never know. I wish there was a set time frame when we knew exactly how long until a placement, but there isn't. Good luck!
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Thank you for your comment. I guess my real question here is what happens between home study and when you get your license. I was told we still had to have a matching specialist come out. When your approved by the board does that mean you are licensed? Or does the board have to file for your license? I am confused on this.
Basically the way it was explained to us AFTER your fire inspection is done (we didn't need one of those either because our home was new) everything is then submitted to the county supervisor for approval. If there are any issues found by them they'll need to be addressed, if there aren't any found you'll be approved and receive your actual license via snail mail. That part actually went pretty quickly for us (a couple of weeks because we had no outstanding issues) but I've heard of it taking months for final approval for some others. It really all depends on the agency you're working with and how busy they are at that time.
From there your ETA for your first placement is anybodies guess. We were licensed in April of 06, got our first placements July of 06. Some people get placements immediately, some take up to a year or longer before they see their first kiddo. It all depends on the need your county has for kiddos and your home's specifications. We take almost any kiddo, any gender, any race, healthy or not up to age 10.
Oh, and our licensing worker was our "matching specialist" LOL. You should have a licensing worker - they are the one(s) that came out to do your in-home interviews and such. You should be able to call that person and get further questions answered since every county and even state is different.
How does the matching process work? Other than what you hear from the SW and what's in their file, do you get to meet the child(ren) before you accept them? We're just starting the home study process and looking to adopt. I do have some concerns about the children that are already going through the TPR process and shortly available for adoption. Like someone had stated in another thread, if they've been in foster care long enough to be through the TPR process the foster parents would probably want to adopt. And if not, what issues are there are making the FP not interested in adopting. Or am I being paranoid?
I have not gotten much information regarding what happens during the matching process for straight adoption although we would love to go that route we are also doing legal risk kids. The way I was explained this and the way I have come to understand is that a legal risk kids case plan is towards adoption and that more than likely they will be adopted unless something unforseen comes out of the woodwork which hence the "legal risk" part. There is still some risk that you may not end up adopting. BUT there are alot of kids that are in foster homes and sometimes they may be in homes of older people that may want to adopt them but feel they will not be around long enough so elect not to for the sake of the child or perhaps they just feel called to Foster rather than adopt and work on finding good stable loving adoptable homes for their foster kids that could have been with them since birth or in the worse case scenario its just not a good match for their family, personality conflict with bio children or other f children or just themselves. Also I was told by my recruiter there are alot of kids in a type of legal limbo where they are going to be labeled straight adoption but the paperwork has not been full processed yet so technically their case plan still says RU until certain things can get filed and taken care of.
We just finished our home study and were approved and our license is in the mail. This Tuesday we have an orientation with a matching specialist who will go over in more detail how the process works since we want only legal risk or straight adoption kiddos. We are open to any race and ages 0-3. I know we have to make a family album type scrapbook that will be used while picking out placements for us but as far as how we will go about finding a placement I am not sure, since technically I will not get a social worker until a placement is made with us. So it's not like they will be calling me for emergency placements. I have yet to find a board who talks about their matching specialst yet so I am curious as well how this will turn out!
Good luck on your home study! Its really the best part of getting licensed! :cheer:
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