[ButterflyBlue77]

My husband and I have applied to a Children's Home that is associated with our church to be foster to adopt parents. However, talking to the foster parent recruiter today, I found out that we are not eligible to do foster to adopt with them, only straight adoption, because we live outside of a 60 mile radius, which is as far as they will go for home visits, etc.

So now the question is: Do we stick with this agency, and do a straight adoption, or do we go with CPS in the nearest town to us that has a CPS office, which is still 50 miles away, to do fostering and foster-to-adopt (legal risk placement, whatever you want to call it). We live in a very rural area, I don't even think out county has a CPS office of its own.

I had hoped to do some fostering to find out the sort of issues that kids in the system are likely to have, what ages/how many kids we could handle, etc. I would like to stick with the agency that we applied to, however, in part because I know their reputation and because they would know where we are coming from on our worldview/religious beliefs, and I just feel like we would get more support and individual attention there than at the state office.

I would like to hear people's experiences from both sides: having adopted straight from foster care and having done legal risk adoption.

Thanks!

[Withay]

I am currently in the process of my first adoption - through foster care. It is a fc who has been in my home since birth and is now almost 2 years old.

I've never worked with any agency other than my county DHS office. I have found them, at times trying while as a whole pretty good to work with.

[sages910]

My husband and I chose to become a legal risk therapeutic home from day one. As someone who needs to dot all the I's and cross all the T's I needed to know if I could manage with how the system worked. So even though we were not placed right away, I was able to help kids in custody get the necessary school services that they needed (as the stand in parent) and monitor the progress of their journey.
I witnessed many loving families struggle through the TPR hearings etc. It was difficult, seeing the kids go back and forth, but gave me a lot to consider.
Our son had already been throught he TPR process, so it was much easier for us to work on becoming a family right away opposed to having to go through that struggle and process.
I know now that the whole experience (as an ed surrogate) helped me to learn how to work within the constraints of the system, and learn the right questions to ask regarding behavior, expectations and needs of children in care. The process also helped me get answers to questions that I may have not known that I had, and would recommend it to anyone.
That said, there were still unexpected issues, problems and joys that arose from the experience.
All the best to you on your journey.