[bug'smom]

I may have asked a similar question before but things actually seem to be coming together for us with little V. Her foster parents are not going to adopt her in the fall when she is legally free. We start classes in September. Should we tell immediately that we have her in mind?
Say she becomes free before all our ducks are in a row, so to speak. If we've already started the process to adopt her, will that be a problem? I am so afraid she will become legally free and go to someone else because we haven't finished our classes.
Anyone been there before???

Thanks!

[BrandyHagz]

If they know that her plan is moving towards adoption, they might have already identified a family for her...so if you are interested, you need to let someone know ASAP...but be prepared that the decision may have already been made.

[morandi7]

Unfortunately, the law is they can't place her with you until you are certified foster parents. I would work very quickly to get all of the requirements met before the classes are done. Hopefully, you already have your homestudy done. That's another 2 months. I would ask (or beg) the foster parents to keep her and not give their notice until you are almost certified. Maybe that way, she won't be placed with anybody else until your done.

[Victoria Lane]

We also knew our foster to adopt daughter before we were certified. Her foster parents were not adopting her either. We continued to take classes. For us, the most important person to know we were interested was our fd's cw. We called her right away, told her where we were in the licensing procedure that if S became legally free we would like to be considered. We told her we knew her loved her and had a relationship with her. We finished our licensing, she was placed in our home as a foster child. She has been here since Nov. of 2004 she still isn't legally free. Although the plan for TPR was set up June of 2004. And we don't think she will be until Dec. 2005. So I would say just plug along with the homestudy, and make sure you keep in touch with her cw. Good luck!

[sfbaymom2000]

I agree that you should let them know ASAP! If you already have a relationship with the child, that should give you a huge advantage. Obviously it would be better for her to go to a family she already knows, all else being equal. I would tell them now that you would like to adopt her if she becomes available, and keep politely remininding the CW with notes and/or phone calls. You could say/write something like, "Just wanted to let you know that we have stated classes/finished our first class/ and are finding them very valuable/interesting/helpful, etc. We are so excited about the possibility * becoming part of our family. If there is anything you need from us, or would like us to do, please let me know". Good luck to you!