Curious about MAPP classes

Congratulations! Isn't it exciting. I enjoyed my MAPP classes. I loved the people in the class and the classes. They split the subjects into 10 sessions and there is a little small group work, some role-play and big group discussion. There was homework every week, and they won't count you complete unless it's done. Some people in my class started thinking they didn't need to do it because it was not mentioned, but towards the end, they were having to catch up. So, just do your homework no matter what. My worker used some of that to write my home study. It's easy stuff....all about you! We also turned in a lot of our licensing work throughout the class. Our instructors had to come to our home two times to talk to us. I used that first visit to get input on my room for the child. It's all fun. Time consuming, but just plan to enjoy it, and you will.

I am taking the classes now and really enjoy them. Most of the content is really sad (obviously, it's about the effects of abuse and neglect on children!) but the trainer is really good at lifting the mood and making it entertaining. Even though they don't sugar coat anything and are very realistic with us, we still leave the classes thinking "we can do this!"

I agree with Sosaweet! The classes are informative and I find them fun! Our social worker makes the sad subjects seem "lighter" with her laughter and sense of humor. She is great to work with and makes you feel like you can go through this process and that you are not alone! We had an initial home visit where they asked some questions and did a walk through. Then she gave us tips and things to work on. We started classes and we had TONS of paperwork to fill out and hand in....doctors notes/visits, vet docs, educational statements if you have children, 3 letters of references etc... Each week we also had homework so make sure you do that too. We also had to type a 15 page doc on ourselves and then another on our community where we live. Good luck!!

We are starting in the same month. Our classes officially start on Jan 7th (KY)! Guess we will be comparing notes. LOL

Be prepared for lots of work outside of class. You are doing all the prep work for the licensing process while in class. LOTS of paperwork and getting your house ready, plus MAPP homework. It's very time consuming. Also, be prepared to come home from class emotionally exhausted. It's very heavy stuff. You'll be interacting a lot, sharing personal stuff and will most likely cry more than once in class. My husband and I both thought it was a good experience, though. It really brought us closer together. We have loosely stayed in touch with our instructor and people from the class.

We start our classes tonight Jan 7th (MD)! It's two days a week until Feb 2nd. We have our first homestudy sch'd for tomorrow!!!!! I hope we can all compare notes.

We did most of our papperwork before class, and we did it all in 2.5 days (Fri afternoon - Sunday).A good majority of it was answers questions and helping us understand what to expect. We also spent a lot of time going over the leagal docs and all the points around foster care. They had some guest speakers that talked about their experiences, and one that talked about disciplin ideas. You also spend some time talking about personal experiences, this was the first time my wife and I openly told people that we couldn't have children. There were some really painful stories about children in and out of care that you hear about, and a good number of videos that a bit heart wrenching. In general it was a pretty open forum, but our class was pretty small.

We had about 20 + people (all but one person was a couple) They gave us a large notebook and said every week we would get a lesson to put in each section and hw that is to be turned in at the end of class or every week. We watched a movie for about 30-45 minutes and it was a bit dated but gave you a look into foster care. We are VERY lucky to have a trainer with over 25 years exp with foster care and anything and everything around it. She has fostered about 500 children anywhere from a day to ten years but never adopting. I hope most of the classes go this way. I would love to hear from anyone who started lastnight as well.

Hi! We are starting our MAPP class next week and we are so excites about it. We had started a MAPP class 8 months ago, but discovered that the house we were renting was entering in foreclosure, so we had to wait. Now we are set and ready to go, and can't wait to start. We know there is a lot of paperwork involved, but everything is worth it! We are going through state adoption and the staff there are wonderful! July 14th 2010 - Start MAPP

Congrats!! Keep us posted!!