Match Staffing/Matching Conference...

Hi Everyone, We are up for a match staffing this week for a 10 year old girl in Florida and then a matching conference soon for a 9 year old girl in Ohio. And we're also waiting to hear about matching for two boys, 10 and 7, in Kansas! Yikes! Anyway, my question is what exactly happens at these "staffings" or conferences? We've never made it this far before. I hope we don't need to be there (we're in MN). What about our SW? What can I expect? Thanks!

Hey Congrats on being choosen to go into match meetings/RAS/selection commitee (and whatever else each 50 states call it). YOU don't have to be there, but your CW will be in a phone conference. Usually they pick the top three homestudies, then have the meeting to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each family, placement issues (ICPC), potential problems (aka how likely are they to disrupt). They put the families in order first choice second chioce third choice. After you've been selected as the best possible match for the child, you will be given "full disclosure"- mine came in the form of two file boxes full of papers from the 4 yrs she was in foster care, sometimes its a phone conference with the childs worker & Foster parent. IF you get all the information, and STILL feel that you are willing to parent the child, you move forward with the adoption process. Now, here's the kicker. You can know 20 min after the end of the meeting like I did....or it can take weeks for them to make a final choice and notify you like it did for leahcar. Also you wont nessecarily be told "you are our second choice" so you could be called in a month or more later to ask if you are still interested if the first family declines after full disclosure. Best of luck for a speedy and effecient process. If you get choosen in florida, leachcar lives there, and momto3 is working her tail off trying to get her kids out of there. They might be able to give you some insider guidance there.

thanks, I needed that info as well as I am also being considered for a child in ohio and I am in Pennsylvania. My workers in Pa couldn't answer this question. If chosen when will I have to go there? What happens next?

USUSALLY- after youv'e been picked rather than go there you get information either by mail or phone. thats the "full disclosure" part. When you have to travel varies from case worker to case worker/ state to state. Some people don't trave UNTIL they are going to bring thier child home. (Thats What I did.) Some people have several visits first then finally bring them home. That can totally vary based on a number of factors. Its not unusual to only meet and travel to the child on the trip at which you will take them home. :flower:

So if you dont mind sharing. How was it to meet the child and take them home at the same time. In our case it will be two children 5 and 8.

We had our staffing over the phone b/c our child is in a different state. It was about 5 people and they asked us different questions. After talking to us, they called our worker. We were the first family they interviewed and about 3 hours later they called us back and told us that we were chosen. His worker sent us his file about 2 days later and then 3 weeks later we flew to meet him and spent 4 days with him. The next time that we fly out to see him will be to bring him home. We call on Sundays to talk to him and he has our pictures from our visit and our family lifebook that has pictures for him to look at. Another child that we were matched with in state had about 4 people there and they asked us questions and we found out either that day or a couple of days later that we were chosen. We met with the child as a respite provider and decided not to continue. Another staffing was for a sib group of 2 boys and a single child, two different situations held at one staffing. It was about 12 people and we were there with our cw. We wanted the single child (boy), but was chosen for the sib group that we decided to pass on b/c we were fostering a sib group 2 boys and 4 boys was not something I was ready to handle. Another staffing was for a little boy and it took about 1 week before we found out we were not chosen. We did not have to attend, but they emailed me a lot of questions and talked with our worker. We were number 2 and the only reason we were not chosen was because the other family had a child and we didn't and the child was used to living with other children. I hope that helps.

Weird. I mean really. For me it was love at first sight, I saw her get off the school bus and thought :there is my baby: Her stuff was already packed up in my car. She knew I was coming, so she hugged me, we talked alittle and the said her goodbyes.....then we went to the hotel unloaded, went to get ice cream....the next morning we came home forever.... She was sad but did not want to go back to the foster home. She'd had an overnight before and been returned in the morning, adoptive parent declining hte placement. so when we had to pass the area of the foster home, she panicked and did not want me to go there. She had one foster home for 4 yrs in care...... Once we were home it was better.

Yes it helped a lot,thanks for sharing!!

Sweetness... Thank you so much, that's really helpful information. I'm thinking we're going to have a bunch of staffings right in a row. We keep getting more information on several kids and I'm just trying to figure out how we're going to choose if we're selected for them! There are some that I would call my "favorites," but I don't want to say no to another just to wait on the others, ya know? And who's to say that the ones that are my favorites on paper would actually be my favorite?! Argh, this process is maddening!

Congrats on your matching options. What are you going to do when you are picked for them all! :) What agency are the boys with? I went through Youthville, and I know exactly how that matching goes. They pull together a whole slew of people. Social workers, children workers, state people, CASAs, GALs and foster parents along with the adoption workers. They review each family being considered. Everyone there has a copy of your homestudy. It is discussed, and then they pick the best match. If they don't think any family is a best match, they wait. (I think that is rare.) They excused my worker and the competing family's worker at some point. They then called her, and she called me.

I kept a notebook of all my contacts with workers in state and out of state. I also kept short bios on each child we inquired about like age, race, state, worker's name, etc. I also made notes about the impressions I got from the worker. Like friendly or very business like or I really enjoyed talking to her. Plus it helped if a child I inquired about was already placed, then I would still email my homestudy and make a note to contact worker in 2 months. Also, when you talked with a worker, you had a point of reference like "I spoke with you 2 months ago regarding child x and I emailed you a copy of my homestudy, I was wondering if you have any new children on your caseload that we could be a good match for and if not, please share our homestudy with your co-workers. " I have received phone calls from other workers about kids that way. I did a ranking of inquiries from 1 to 4 from say 10 that I noticed on the websites. The more information that I gathered or learned help decide if rankings had to be changed and helped eliminate choices. For instance, my number 4 choice was somewhat out of my age range and after receiving information from his worker I had to eliminate him because of his needs. My number 2 and 3 choices were girl sibling groups, but I have a fs and I don't know when he is leaving. Sometimes all of my choices were eliminated because we were not chosen or they were already placed. The child that we were chosen for and will be adopting was my number 1 choice after we were not chosen for a sibling group and decided not to adopt an older child. He is a single child, in the age range I preferred, and after talking to his worker, I felt that it was the right match. Plus if fs becomes as, then it will not change birth order and he will do better with a younger child. Sometimes you look at a picture and read the profile on the website and go "Ahh, I could parent that child" and you assign 1st choice to that child. Then you receive the profile and the child could move down or be eliminated. The reverse may happen. A child that is number 4 on your list can move up to number 1 after getting information from the worker. It is a maddening process and I wish you and everyone the best of luck on this rollercoaster ride. All Aboard!!!!:drive:

Thank you all for you helpful info,it is helping me and giving me a lot of ideas on what to do while I impatiently wait:grr:

We were up for a staffing today. We've heard nothing and can't get anyone with DFCS to return emails and calls. This is our first time. Does anyone know how long these staffings to find a match usually last?

Sometimes you will find out by the end of day. Sometimes they want to take a few days to decide. If you are not their first choice it could be over a month and they can call and ask if you are still interested. After staffing is disclosure and sometimes you see things you didn't expect. Best of luck! I have been through a couple of them so if you are need of support Im here in Texas. Where are you at?