[DianeScraps]

Hi -

FYI - I moved your thread to an area a little more appropriate and will hopefully get more attention.

Answers are going to be different by state (and I am in PA) but some basics will prevail.

Many states will allow you to be adoptive parents and not foster the children. However you may find that the 'good' cases available for adoption are placed with the foster parents.

Whether you foster or not you will need to have a homestudy and complete any applicable training, the hours for this range - but generally I see people refer to trainings of 12 hours and up.

My adoption was instate. An out of state adoption requires an ICPC and if you search for that term you will find that it can be a huge headache (it works, it can be done, but it can be a lot of stress). Personally I would find out as much as possible about how things work in my own state, the number of children available, and the number of adoptions completed each year.

Best wishes!