[princessmommy2two]

Hi everyone! I've introduced myself in a few threads before, but DH and I live in southeastern PA. We have 2 biological DD's, ages 7 and 8. We are looking to foster to adopt.

We had our first meeting with our agency last night. We had a lot of questions that got answered. We are very comfortable working with this agency instead of working directly with Children and Youth. We realize we don't get "first pick" of kids, but in this case, this agency ONLY works with parents who wish to adopt and the kids they place are already in process of having parental rights terminated. The goal is never reunification for these kids, it's adoption. That's not to say, there's no risk, just less risk.

Until last night, I though we were just looking for one boy, age and race negotiable as long as he was younger than our daughters, but after last night DH and I both agreed that we are open to 2 brothers as long as they are younger than our kids.

So...I'm very excited! We're moving forward...getting paperwork filled out...starting classes next month! Our agency said typical time until approval is 3-4 months and then placement can be up to a year depending on age/race/etc.

[Yash]

Congratulations and welcome to the rollercoaster!!! I'm glad you found an agency you felt comfortable with that's so important.

Did they say how long a placement typically took?

[111holmes]

Be prepared to wait a long time for a placement or the referrals you do get, the children have lots and lots of problems. We went through a private agency that is contracted for the state, they talked so good until we were finished and licensed. Then, we didn't get but a few referrals and they had terrible profiles and the children are older. (over 10) We are in NC not sure about other states.

We will be getting a placement the end of this month, but only because they separated a sibling group and we got the little girl who is 9. Her brother who is 7, has frontal lobe brain damage. They have tried to place them together several times and everyone backs out because of the brain damage. Well we were lucky and were the last couple they tried to put them with, when we said no they ask would we consider the little girl and we said yes.

So, just be prepared to wait and wait and wait!!! The waiting is the hardest part!! But, I always say if its God's plan it will happen.

[princessmommy2two]

Originally Posted by Yash

Congratulations and welcome to the rollercoaster!!! I'm glad you found an agency you felt comfortable with that's so important.

Did they say how long a placement typically took?

It could take a year or so, especially because we are looking for a younger child or sibling group.

[princessmommy2two]

Originally Posted by 111holmes

Be prepared to wait a long time for a placement or the referrals you do get, the children have lots and lots of problems. We went through a private agency that is contracted for the state, they talked so good until we were finished and licensed. Then, we didn't get but a few referrals and they had terrible profiles and the children are older. (over 10) We are in NC not sure about other states.

We will be getting a placement the end of this month, but only because they separated a sibling group and we got the little girl who is 9. Her brother who is 7, has frontal lobe brain damage. They have tried to place them together several times and everyone backs out because of the brain damage. Well we were lucky and were the last couple they tried to put them with, when we said no they ask would we consider the little girl and we said yes.

So, just be prepared to wait and wait and wait!!! The waiting is the hardest part!! But, I always say if its God's plan it will happen.

Well, hopefully we continue to have a good experience. It's definitely in God's hands. I know for sure that I personally couldn't take one sibling and not the other, so we will just wait for the right placement. We are open to some behavioral issues and things like that. I work for a mental health organization so we have great resources at our disposal. I realize not everyone is that fortunate, and major physical issues would be really tough to deal with for sure.