Hello everyone,
I am having huge, and I mean huge, problems with my foster care/adoption agency. It started when I went into the office for orientation; I told the adoption recruiter at that time that I would not be able to take all of the PRIDE (MAPP) classes at one time due to vacation plans. The recruiter told me that the agency would do one-on-one classes for me. Turns out this is not possible. This started my problem.
Since then, I have had problems with everything from paperwork getting lost to not having my telephone calls returned. I have located a child through the District of Columbia's CFS and was told by the child's
SW that I could have an initial visit when my agency faxed a copy of my clearances. My agency REFUSED to provide this information though they have a contract with DCFS. Finally, my agency relented after a month and sent the documentation.
The latest and most frustrating issue deals with my homestudy. My completed homestudy has been sitting in the office for nearly two weeks. That might not sound like a long time but 1) I was assured by an adoption recruiter that it would only take 3 hours to review once it gets to the office. 2) The agency's lackadaisical attitude is impeding the background conference that I need to have regarding the child. 3) The agency head told me that she would call me back regarding the homestudy. I have left two subsequent messages to no avail. The child that I want to adopt is ten years old, has been in foster care for five years and has ADHD. She has met me once and I do not want to think that I am going to do a vanishing act. Of course I may not contact her until the background conference but the background conference cannot occur until my agency turns in the homestudy to DCFS.
Can anyone tell me what my next step is? The agency is contracted with DCFS so I planned on staging an impromptu one person sit-in at DCFS so I could speak to someone else about this problem. I cannot talk to the head of the agency because she is famous for not returning phone calls such as the one that she has not returned to me. I REALLY REALLY NEED HELP.
