Question regarding length of process

Hi, this is really a foster care/adoption question, and you would also get a lot of useful answers if you post on the main foster care board or the foster care to adoption board. Most states have a timeline for achieving permanency that follows the federal rules. It sounds as if they have been hitting them so far. The court will continue review hearings like it did for the foster care plan only this time they are permanency plan review hearings. The permanency plan that was approved during the foster care case would have included goal dates for achieving the adoption. Each time they go in, the caseworkers have to explain to the judge what the barriers are to completion of the permanency plan and what is happening to overcome them. At some point, they will be asking you to sign an adoption assistance agreement (be sure you get one if possible and don't sign anything else until you are satisfied with it, adoption placement papers, and something related to disclosure. Then your attorney will be able to file a petition for adoption. Social services will have to consent to the adoption--either beforehand, and the consent will be included with your petition or after, in answer to the petition. I strongly suggest you find your own attorney, one who is familiar with fost-adoption in your state and jurisdiction, now to review everything before you sign anything and to write and file the petition and adoption order for judge's signature for you. If the child is Title IV-E eligible (is he on Medicaid? if so, then he probably is), then you should get reimbursement for one-time adoption expenses--usually whatever the standard filing fee is in your area. Your attorney may or may not get the new BC for you. It would be an extra charge, probably not covered by the state but tax deductible. Then you would be able to get a SS number for the child. Good luck! Your case is actually moving fairly quickly for a relative placement....ours took years.

Thank you so much for your response! I will definitely post in one of the foster to adoption forums for more input. Although yours helped a bunch too! Can't really afford an attorney right now, with the added cost of childcare to my already tight budget! However, it seems that things are going smoothly for me right now. I will definitely read and re-read anything that I have to sign as well.The reason that I posted this question is that the private adoption agency that our county contracted out to do our home study thought that once the home study was complete that the county had 60-90 days to finalize everything else...? Other's that I've talked to said that once their homestudies were done they finalized pretty quickly as well...I guess it may also depend on the social worker and how on top of things they are....Again, thanks for your response!

Family/Kin in my experience, have always taken some priority at the state adoptions level.Have you been assigned a state sw outside the private agency that did the FFA? That is also not uncommon with family adoptions.Has the state sw sat down with you and had you sign the "Adoption Placement" ??? You need to ask your state sw when that might be. There are time tables for appeals before TPR (Termination of parental rights)Typically, a child who is being adopted by a family, moves from a foster home to an adoptive home and then the family is asked to sign/agree to this adoptive placement. This gives the family and the child the 6 month buffer to know this is a good match. Ours son, like your gs was in our home for over 6 months so on like a Wed. sw came and we signed the "placement" papers and then she came back on Thurs. and we signed the rest to petition the courts for adoption. (the dates have to be different on the two forms, hence the day split)Then I took part one of the court papers to the court house. I paid a filing fee, ($20 i think). At this point, the court says they wait for the state's portion of the paperwork, which can be quick or we waited 3 wks.Then once they receive a copy state's paperwk to the local court, giving the "okay" from the state saying they recommended this family finalize and then you are eligible for a court date for finalization. The same day my sw sent the court the paperwork, she sends us a copy. I waited 3 days to ensure the court received theirs and then I called and said "Okay, set my date" and it's all memories from there! From the day you sign the court papers with your state sw, expect it to be still about 2-3 months before your big day. IMO, w/o any extenuating circumstances, I see no need for a lawyer. The state is streamlined and it is organized chaos there. Save your money and go to Disneyland after finalization!Good luck.