[Eighty8Keys]

Hello! We were wondering how many of you had success in adopting out of your home state. We recently completed all of our foster care/adoption classes as well as our homestudy, and were are trying to determine if seeking a child/sibling group from another state will be met only with frustration. Thanks!

[sbeardz]

I adopted my son from another state, and had my fair share of headaches along with it. In all fairness though, there were other factors which added to the stress. I found out about him before I was licensed, and then I had a worthless caseworker which didn't help.... There is additional paperwork involved b/c of ICPC, and paperwork is not my friend. It took about 6 months from the time I found out about him until I brought him home. I'm not sure how much of the time was b/c of being in different states. I am looking in my own state now, but if something came up in another state I wouldn't say no. Good luck!

[Eighty8Keys]

It is good to hear that there are success stories out there! We just registered with the AdoptUSKids website, and are about to begin an extensive search on there. How many preplacement visits were necessary for any of you who adopted out of state, and how far away was the state? Thanks for any additional info from anyone!

[Lorraine123]

We adopted out of state. We live in MD and our daughter is from PA. We found her on the PA web site.

[bjolly]

we are in Md and adopted our daughter from NJ. We found her on adoptuskids. The preplacement visiting period was about 6 weeks.
the biggest frustration we had was the slow responses and lack of responses when we inquired on kids. We sent our homestudy out from 40some kids and on many we had no response at all. It was all worth it in the end though. : )

[sbeardz]

I'm in Arizona and my son was in California. I went to visit him 3 times before I brought him home. The visits took place over 2 months. I think my paperwork delayed things. I probably could have brought him home after the first visit if everything would have been in order on my end.

[niandca]

We had fd in MA that was adopted by couple in CT. They had to return to MA twice a week, at night, to take the MAPP training, because CT didn't have that at the time. They also visited the child every weekend. They so amazed me with their dedication.

[nikkib365]

We found our children on the TARE website. It seems like Texas being a large state had a lot of children listed that were in the age range that I was looking for. It was ironic because I expressed an interest in the children by responding to the TARE website and they asked that I send my homestudy and a recent picture of my husband and me. I never responded but the children were not available anyway, but then the prospective adoptive parents backed out because they wanted children who were not so close in age (mine are only a year apart and I found this out later after looking in their files and noticing the dates). Later after being disappointed in getting negative feedback on other children we were interested in, I inquired about the children again and they asked for a picture and a homestudy. This time I sent one and their placement worker responded that same day. We were selected in a committee meeting two weeks later, and from there we had our children 4 months later.

ICPC is a nuisance as well as the contract that has to be done between the two states. DH and I visited the children once and spent a few days with the children. In this particular county of Texas no more visits were required. We were only able to do that after the ICPC was approved. All states do not require this. Also we were able to communicate with the children daily as well as their foster parents and therapist. All in all despite the paperwork headache, it was DEFINITELY worth it!!!!

[Tudu]

Nikki - Do you know if 4 months is typical for TX?

What is the average wait for ICPC once you have been selected?

[nikkib365]

Tudu - Each county of Texas is different. It also depends on the competency of the social workers from both states. Especially important is if the people who are handling the adoption familiar with doing out of state adoptions. So it is not really a state thing when you are trying to determine how much time it takes for selection, placements, etc. It is a state thing, however, when it comes to the timing of the ICPC, but they can only process it if it is completed correctly by each worker involved. My worker told me that it is not unusual for the ICPC approval process by itself to take up to 4 months because there are so many ICPCs in their system, then it has to be approved by your state. So it is difficult to really put a time frame on each individual adoption situation. Each situation and circumstance is different.

I hope you have a good experience in your endeavor to adopt.

[standup]

My Dh and I were selected for two girls (4&5) at the end of November. We are in MO and the girls are in CO. We were told the process takes 2-4mo (if you are lucky!). While we wait, we can speak to the foster mom only- we can talk to the children after ICPC is approved.

We are hoping to bring our girls home in March, so the oldest one has plenty of time to settle in before she begins kindergarten.

P.S. We used the Adoption Exchange to find our girls. It lists kids from several central and western states.

[leenab]

For us we're doing in-state NJ and our time line is similar to out of state. The girls were scheduled to move in 10 1/2 weeks after we first spoke to their cwer. This is with No ICPC. So it actually went faster for bjolly who was out of state. Go figure.

[Tudu]

This has been very helpful. I now know I WILL be insane by the time we have more children. At least my dh can prepare to care for me and the kids.

I think we will pursue in state if at all possible. We have been told by our worker that we will be loved by the other workers b/c of all of our experience with kids, our openess to higher risk, and our want for such a large group. Who knows.

[Eighty8Keys]

Hi! We are in MO, too, an inquiring about children from other states. We have sent our homestudy to several places for kids on the Adoption Exchange, including in Colorado. How many preplacement visits do you have to do?

[hotspice58]

What is the TARE website? I'm in NY and considering adopting from Texas as the kids stay in foster care longer, according to a report that was done.