[tem0627]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are new to the adoption world and I am lost as to where to go for help. We live in Illinois and found a sibling group in Florida we would like to consider adopting through this site. Every agency I have called in Illinois will not do an inter-state adoption because the children are already in foster care. And this site will not give us any more information about the children unless we have already had a home study. Yet, the agencies here are telling me they will not do a home study if they do not have the ability to help procure or finish the adoption. I am being told that in order for our family to adopt these children, we first have to become licensed foster parents, then we can have the children transferred to our foster home and then maybe someday we can adopt them. However, if someone wants to adopt them after they've been in our care as foster kids, they can be taken away from us if we have not reached the specified time frame to adopt them yet.

Does anyone have any insights or thoughts? All we want to do is provide a loving home to these precious kids and the agencies here are telling me they don't know how to help me!

Thanks so much.

Erica

[CaddoRose]

I'm not in Illinois, but I would recommend contacting an attorney that handles adoptions and they will know what can be done. You might also try to contact the CASA/GAL in the state you are interested in and inquire about the children that way. What a crazy catch 22 situation.

[BrandyHagz]

Very strange.

First, in Illinois, to be able to adopt any child, private or through the state (any state) you must complete the foster parent training and become licensed to foster. That does not mean you have to open your home to foster children - but the law in Illinois is clear, to adopt, you must complete the training and become licensed (get approved by the state).

Now, to adopt children from the State of Florida, you would need to go through the process of becoming a licensed foster home with the intent to adopt. To do that, you would contact the State of Illinois and go through their process. I believe its 32 hours of PRIDE classes, 2 home visits, finger printing, back ground check, reference check and medical evaluation.

Once you've completed the required steps, you'll become licensed.

Once you've become licensed, you'll be able to adopt children in care in Illinois. How your county treats the intention to adopt out of state is up to them. They can allow you, billing you for the work they did to get you approved or they may require you to be a licensed foster home for a period of time before you can look outside the state. Since the state pays for all of the work in getting your home approved, they have certain restrictions.

At any rate - the process takes 3-9 months.

As for the children being placed with you and adopted by someone else after you have them - that's highly, highly unlikely. You're talking about 2 very different things here - if you're a FOSTER PARENT to these children, then sure, the state can move them or do whatever they'd like - but if a child comes to your home with the intention of being adopted - the state will rarely step in the middle of that, unless there are reasons (abuse etc).

The first step is to call the local intake office of DCFS and get the paperwork rolling and get on the list for classes. Once you’ve done that – you can start the process of getting the paperwork done, turned in etc.

Like I said above, the process can take anywhere from 3 to 9 months – or longer. If you’re intention is to provide a home for children in need, then this will be the required steps to take in order to make that happen. If you’re intention is to provide a home for these children in Florida and no one else – chances are that they will no longer be available for adoption once you’ve completed the required steps…so you might want to really sit down and evaluate your next step.

Remember, however, that if you intend to adopt any child, from any where, even from abroad, you will need to get your foster care certification…it is an Illinois law. Some private agencies that do private adoptions (domestic, infant adoption and/or International Adoption) provide the service of getting you certified – it’s built into their fee structure. However, if adopting from foster care or from the state is your vision, there is zero cost involved in getting certified to foster or foster-adopt.

[AuntieRockon]

Actually you do not need foster care certification if you are adopting internationally and the child is coming home on an IR3 visa. The home study is enough, along with the new mandatory Hague training.

[tem0627]

Thanks for the great info. I will look into these suggestions and hopefully we can get the ball rolling. Yes, we are interested in these children, but ultimately our hope is that God will put them with the family they need. If that is us, great. If not, then we will still pursue adoption, albeit another avenue.

Erica

[BrandyHagz]

Thanks for the correction AuntieRockin I'm guessing things changed since the last time I investigated

[AuntieRockon]

I made sure to remember THAT because the PRIDE classes would've added months to our prep time! heh heh :-)