|
In Illinois you must be an approved and licensed foster care home, by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, prior to being able to adopt domestically or internationally. I know this not only as a parent having gotten through this stage of the adoption process, but also as a social worker. We are in Chicago.
There is not other way around getting approved for an adoption of any kind. DCFS will not throw a foster child into your home, so don't worry about that. But you need to be fingerprinted and attend a 6 or 8 hour adoption education session and have the background check--and pass all of this--prior to getting licensed as a foster placement, and then you can move forward in the adoption application process. Our licensing was good for about 3 years, so you should not have to be re-licensed during your application time.
Any questions, you can post privately.
Thanks.
|