[wrekdiver]

My dh and I chose this route 2 yrs ago. We were with a private agency but decided later on to "broaden our horizons" and sign up with foster agency. Fortunately, our private agency did allow us to "dual track". We ended up getting a child that we are in the process of adopting.
We had to go through a whole different process to foster than adopt. We thought the classes were really good and felt prepared for the ulitmate goal of re-unification if that occured. NOBODY could have prepared me for how hard it was to return our first fs. I felt like they were taking away "my child" and there was nothing I could do about it. I was angry and grieved and then...we got another child--and it seems like my first placement happened a lifetime ago.
Of course, finding this site was a real lifesaver. As you can read, dealing with a government institution (social services) such as this one is fraught with all kinds of aggravations that we never had to deal with from our private agencies.
But I don't think I would do it over again a different way. I have experiences and knowledge that I just couldn't gain anywhere else.
Good luck to you on your journey