[julfre1]

I just started the paperwork and received the packet for my home study today. There is a whole packet of information on qualifying as a foster parent. My SW says that is required to adopt in Illinois. I have never read this anywhere. It wants me to list the person who will care for my"foster" children. I will be using home care so I won't know that until I am close to adoption and can see who has openings. Is the foster care paperwork really required? SHould I just put down one of the local day care centers?

[Happy2Bhere]

Any chance they could have sent the wrong paperwork?
I never heard of the foster care paperwork.
As for daycare- we listed my sister- who actually did do the babysitting for us.
Foster care is a whole different set of standards isn't it?
Maybe call back & make sure you got the right info?
Regardless- congrats on taking the first step! :-)
Melissa

[julfre1]

I called back as soon as I opened the pack and she said that it was a state requirement. It has a seperate fingerprint requirement (at least this one is free) and lots of paperwork. I guess I'll just look at it as practice for the rest of the paperwork I'll be doing!

[Happy2Bhere]

Well, at least you can foster care before you adopt to help you pass the time while you wait for a referral :-)

[Toto113]

We are also in Illinois and had to go through the DCFS requirements to become licensed foster parents even though we are adopting from China. Basically the process entails extra paperwork, additional (free!) fingerprinting, 8 hours of parenting classes (which we did online) and safety inspections (smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, and fire extinguisher) are required every six months. We were told to put "adopt only" on all our paperwork.

[julfre1]

After looking closer at the paperwork, most of it is printed with "adopt only" on it already. After the initial surprise of the extra paper, I am already half way through doing it. Once you get started on it, it isn't bad. Now I just need to convince my doctor to fill out 2 different medical forms!
Thanks for the responses.

[prundell]

Welcome to our surprise as well. IL is one of the few states that goes through DCFS, which has more paperwork than the Dossier!!! You just have to jump into it and can get it done quickly. Get your fingerprints taken at Arts ASAP as this takes 90 days alone!! We also got our medicals and references done quickly as well as this can be the bottle neck in the process.

I think most people are VERY surprised in IL that they have to be licensed with DCFS as a foster parent before they can adopt, although at least they are very thorough, which will be good for the kids.

[brueck99]

My husband and I are also in IL. We would love to hear about the experiences! What was the final verdict about the fostering issue?

[vickih65]

We completed our homestudy in March 06 and were not required to be licensed foster parents. It was my understanding from our social worker that this is necessary if only one parent will travel to pick up your child. We did not have to complete all of the extra paperwork and received USCIS approval in 3 weeks for a special needs child. I would check again. You are required to get DCFS approval but that is just a CANTS clearance. You will receive a letter from DCFS stating that you are approved to adopt but again, no foster parent licensing necessary.

Vicki
DH Joe
DD Meili Ping waiting at Yangquan SWI, Shanxi
DS 25, DD 19, DD 14
Day 58 of the TA wait.....

[L_M_D]

Vicki;

We received our referral for a non-SN child last month. My husband and I are both travelling, and have always planned to do so. We still had to meet the requirements for, and received our Illinois Foster Care License. It does say however, "adoption only".

We had to do 2 sets of fingerprints, one for Illinois and DCFS clearance, and one for CIS/FBI.

There was a little extra paperwork, but not too much. There was a separate medical form for the doctor to fill out in addition to the one for China/dossier.

Laura

[prundell]

In IL all parents have to go through DCFS whether there is one or two parents adopting - per our SW. It is an Illinois statutory law not a national one.

[brueck99]

Speaking of adoption in Illinois adoption, can anyone please PM with information about experiences or whom they are thinking of adopting from in Illinois. We have a few organizations that we have chosen however we are not sure which one to go through. I appreciate it!

[julfre1]

Hi all,
Just wanted to say that I have finished all my foster care paperwork. I guess it is really "adopt only" foster care paperwork, but you have to do it so I did. I have to go to Art's for fingerprinting Friday and I still have my medical to do, but that will be the same visit for the other medical. The homestudy could not begin the visits until I completed all the paperwork so as soon as I get the Art's receipt to them, I get to schedule my first meeting! I will have taken me a little over 2 week to complete it all. Probably could have been faster, but my SW acted like she was surprised I was almost done already. It was straight forward -just a few more hoops to jump through. Probably if they had explained it better in the letter I received with the packet, I wouldn't have been so confused. If you live in Illinois, don't worry about this paperwork, just know that you will have to do extra.
Julie

[vickih65]

Let me clarify my post. We did get two sets of fiingerprints (one state or ARTS and one USCIS), and we did get a DCFS background check or CANTS clearance, and we did get two physical forms filled out (one for our homestudy or DCFS and one for China). We do not however have a foster care license nor do we need one. A foster care license is different and requires training and informational classes. Maybe some of you have social workers who are more cautious and want to be prepared in the event that only one parent can travel. Maybe I was confused and thought you were putting DCFS clearance or approval and foster care licensing together. They are different. We have DCFS approval, we do not have a foster care license. DCFS clearance is absolutely required for fostering or adoption. Foster parent licensing is not required to adopt internationally in Illinois. I confirmed this with our social worker and they do approximately 500 homestudies a year for international adoptions. Check around if someone is making you get a foster parenting license, you do not need one.

Vicki

[prundell]

I think you should ask you SW why others are asked to go through DCFS. We were told that it can significantly help stream line issues down the road when certain documents time out, which appears will definitely happen to everyone in this process. I hope all agencies require this as it will save everyone grief down the road regarding DCFS (Arts) refinger printing. At least this what we were told by our SW, she told us the extra effort will be worth it down the road WHEN things go wrong as they always do.