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My husband and I have just moved to Alabama from Texas and we are needing any advice about foster to adopt in Alabama. We would like to adopt a younger sibling group. A little background. We have been married for almost 9 years and have always wanted to adopt. We thought it would happen after we had biological children. After 6 years of trying to conceive and being pushed to try IVF by several doctors we decided to stop the treatments and focus on adoption. We couldn't justify spending so much money for a "chance" when there are several children waiting that need a family. It's not about having a baby, it's about being parents and making a difference in a child's life that needs it. We had just decided on an agency in TX when my husband took a job in AL. We knew how the foster to adopt process worked in TX but had no clue about AL. I've tried to research it as much as I could but all that has done is make me more confused and concerned because of all the horror stories I've read about how slow and messed up the system is in AL. Is it better to go through DHR or an agency? Any agency suggestions? How long does the approval process usually take? Sorry I'm full of questions but we're basically having to start all over in a place that we know nothing about. So any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!
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We are in Alabama, too - outskirts of Birmingham. I have found it really depends of the County you are working with. We have been listed as an adoptive resource (not foster, but available to adopt) for 3 years in 2 counties and were just presented 2 situations. I have found that DHR (in the counties I am near, anyway) are VERY focused on reunification rather than adoption. We did our own "outreach" (aka running my big mouth to everyone we met about our desire to adopt) and were approached about a private adoption within 2 months. We were in the delivery room 4 weeks later and now he is almost 4. It is so different with everyone and it REALLY depends on where you are. Good luck!
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We are also in Alabama. In our county, I was told by our local DHR office that there is not a foster-to-adopt program. Basically, when the child goes into foster care, there's no guarantee that he or she will be placed for adoption. We also wanted a young child and were told that most babies are adopted by their foster parents. So, if we wanted to adopt a baby or very young child through the foster system, that wouldn't happen in our county without having the chance that the child would never be eligible for adoption.(We ended up deciding on domestic infant adoption.)Not sure what part of Alabama you're in, but good luck! Maybe you'll get different results!
We are also in Alabama. In our county, I was told by our local DHR office that there is not a foster-to-adopt program. Basically, when the child goes into foster care, there's no guarantee that he or she will be placed for adoption. We also wanted a young child and were told that most babies are adopted by their foster parents. So, if we wanted to adopt a baby or very young child through the foster system, that wouldn't happen in our county without having the chance that the child would never be eligible for adoption. (We ended up deciding on domestic infant adoption.) Not sure what part of Alabama you're in, but good luck! Maybe you'll get different results!
Can you go to an information session? I'm not in AL but here in SC they have several information sessions to get the information and ask questions? Agencies usually are more free with open info sessions. Here in SC you can't go to DSS' info session unless you are able to make it through the gatekeeper of DSS
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"The question of whether to go through DHR or an agency depends, in a large degree, upon the county in which you live. Some county DHR programs have a higher level of excellence than others. If you live in a county with a low level of excellence, I think it would definitely be prudent to go through an agency for foster-to-adopt. If you are interested in adopting older children (above 5 years old) then the place to start is with APAC. You can check out their website here: [url=http://www.childrensaid.org/apac/adoption/]Children's Aid Society : APAC : Adoption : Adopting from Foster Care[/url]. Their director's name for my area is Beverly Owings. She's fantastic ... I just did a GPS panel with her a few days ago. I would be happy to give you a free phone consultation. Just give our office a call at 334-612-3406. We have a lot of experience working with these situations."