Best way to adopt through state foster care system?

Question

We recently had our homestudy completed..yay. And are hoping to adopt a 3-5 year old little girl. What is the best way to get our info out there to the states and social workers? I go on the state websites and Heart Galleries daily but I am convinced there is a child out there waiting and I am missing her.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!

Answer 1

Have you qualified to be foster parents at your local county agency?  Foster parents are always given first choice at adoption IF the child becomes available for adoption.  Of course, as a foster parent, you must remind yourself constantly that you are loving this child and giving this child something he/she needs right now because his/her parents can't meet the needs at this time.  Your mission is to prevent further damage to the child, as much as possible, while he/she is in your care.  

What I am saying is that foster care is damaging by its very nature.  How could any child be taken from the people they know (even if it's for their safety) and not be traumatized?  So the job of a foster parent is to help the child deal with that trauma as effectively as possible.  

Then, somewhere down the road, there may come along a child, whose parents just can't seem to pull themselves together enough to follow the safety plan.  IF and WHEN that child has been placed for adoption, the foster parents would have the first option to adopt.  

We kept many foster children.  We loved them all.  We cried when each of them left us.  We were blessed to have adopted two of them.

Answer 2

I don't know how it works in your state, but in Oregon, the case worker or social worker we work with sends us all the bulletins on all available children.  We don't have to do the "foot work".  As soon as a caseworker finishes a bulletin, it gets sent out to all the other caseworkers, and all the social workers at the adoption agencies that contract with the state, and when the caseworkers receive new bulletins, they send them out to all the PAP's.  I wish you luck!

Answer 3

Some state agencies/workers are very helpful, while others are overloaded with cases and don't have the time to send you info or discuss much. We just got our call on a baby boy in March and are about to bring him home. Our process went surprisingly quick...we were just approved in December and were told we could wait for up to 2 years. We were very open to nearly any situation.

Initially, I didn't want to do this, but several people who had been through the process before me told me to 'keep on' our social worker....keep calling her...every other day or bi-weekly.....

While I didn't go that far, I called probably every 2 weeks. Just to discuss our case and to ask about children I saw online....Some people say this 'annoys the social worker'...i.e. 'sqeeky wheel gets the grease' but a simple, quick phone call every other week just reminds your worker that you are serious about this, and it keeps YOU in their mind when a child becomes available. I tried not to be annoying or overly pushy....just 'checking in' to see how our case was going, blah, blah, blah.....

Regardless, there are many children out there waiting for a great home.....but many will not be able to fit into your home.....get to know your caseworker and let her/him get to know your personality....I truly think that we were thought of for our child simply b/c our case worker and I had a great connection and talked frequently....and b/c we were the best fit for him. I wish you all the best.

Answer 4

Most states ask that you stay In State for the matching for a period of time just to see if there is a child in state that you might be the best advocates for....

Usually your adoption worker or the person who did the home study should be able to direct you to the information about waiting children. Either within the DHS offices or with an outside organization in charge of matching families to children in need....

In many states the only person who handles the home study would be your worker--and you would ask your worker to send your home study to the worker of a child you see that you believe might best fit into what you have to offer....

You may also want to REGISTER with AdoptUsKids and have your worker send them a copy of your home study.

In some states the Children's Workers do Not want the interested parents contacting them directly---they will only speak with the parents Adoption Worker... so it is important to understand that the best way to get your home study out is to go through your worker--he or she is supposed to be assisting you in resources for considering a child....

Answer 5

Try networking with your area social workers. Most states hold events for paps, workers, and children. You know the saying of out of sight, out of mind. Stay on their minds so they will think of you when the right child is available.

Look on Adoptuskids.com It's a listing of legally free children in US foster care. Search each state. Most have listings as well.