[MilehighDad]

Ladyexec,
As far as I know, Florida has one of the largest pools of waiting children in the country. That makes it such a tragedy that they can't even bother to call you back because there are literally hundreds of girls in Florida that meet the profile you are looking for and have very little chance of being adopted. Hopefully, someone online here can provide a couple references to some private agencies that will be more responsive, but I will help look into myself in the next couple of days.

Thank you for continuing to try after having your calls lost in the system. I would strongly recommend reading the book "Three Little Words" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter. It was written by a girl who was in the Florida foster care system for 7 years in the 90's. She desperately needed someone like you to step forward for her, but reading the book shows how messed up the system is and how it can be that they will not even call back. The book also talks about how there are group homes in Florida - orphanages really - full of kids waiting to be adopted. This is not old, outdated news, this is real now, today. I think what you need is contact to some of those organizations, because I believe they take an active role in finding adoptive parents.

Don't take offense, but in the book Ashley calls parents like you looking for kids "shoppers" because they pick and choose through the kids around her. And please understand, I have been a "shopper" too. But fortunately she was chosen, too, and she is a huge advocate for foster care adoption now. It is just a really intense view into what it is like to be a kid stuck in the system, and even worse stuck in a group home.

Thanks again and I will be looking into what I can find that will get you started. Hopefully someone else on the boards here can offer up some info, too.