[twinflana]

I am getting so tired of waiting to hear our license has been approved let alone a call with a placement. We started this over 13 months ago and I wonder will it end soon? Every time I call the licensing agency the agent tells me it will be happening any day now. Last week I was so frustrated I called the department head and she told me that she has no idea why it is taking so long and they are getting frustrated also. She said she would email the person who has our packet for final approval and find out what the heck is the hold up. Someone said the longer you wait to get licensed the quicker you get a placement. If that is true I should get a placement within the first hour. HAHAHAHAHA. The waiting is driving me nuts.
________________________________
Started Mapp Class January 2005
Finished Mapp Class April 2005
Home Study July 2005
Packet submitted for approval November 2005
Mom to four beautiful bio daughters
J22(just married)
C20
C20(leaves for Navy 2/21/06)
J18

[Oreo1]

I can empathize with you. My husband and I can't even take the classes until this summer and then it will be a very long time until final license. I am so excited for this, but it reminds me of being pregnant. We are just going to enjoy this year and do all the things we might not be able to do with foster children in the house. We are planning lots of backpacking trips and weekend trips. This time next year I hope to be so busy with little ones that all this waiting is a distant memory.

Hang in there and lets hope you get a placement with the phone call about your license.

[Kate1129]

Yep, sure is frustrating!

It took us 15 months start to finish, was horrible!

I sure hope something happens SOON!

[TNfostermom]

We started with a private agency then changed to DCS. From start to finish it took us about a year and a half. It took about six months to get approved each time and we waited on the private agency for about six months. We found out we had been approved when we got our first call for a placement, a sibling group of four! We took two of them and only had them for a day. We got our next sib set a couple of weeks later. They left after three months. A few days after they left we got an eight month old baby, one week later we got a two month old baby. We are hoping to adopt Baby E, who is now six months. Her bio mom is also pg again.

[mallory4]

The periods of time you all are talking about seem super long to me. We felt like our process took forever because dh's schedule made it challenging for him to attend the classes with me, and we wanted to attend as many as possible together.

So, even though our agency offers all the required classes every month and we could have been done with them in one month, it took us more like 4 months. We started in April or May of 2004 and were licensed in November 2004.

A friend of mine went through DHS and after a year and no license, lots of run around from the worker and multiple inspections of her home for vague reasons, she finally called a supervisor and found out that the person who did her homestudy, etc., had simply not liked her, so she put her paperwork in a drawer and just didn't do it! Then, she quit, so the file was in a place her replacement hadn't known to look.

Anyway, my friend was so mad; the DHS supervisor hurried up a new set of paperwork for her, but even so, she adopted internationally before she ever got a call about a placement from DHS!

Even though we went through an agency, I called my worker at least every two weeks, to make sure we were keeping things moving.

Anyway, the wait seems long, but as Oreo said, it was a good chance to get a lot of things done I had been putting off.

Good luck to all of you.

[ALI143]

Not only will it happen for you soon, but after placement you'll slowly stop remembering the utter frustration and anxiety of waiting. Don't get me wrong you'll still remember it took TOO long, but the pain of it will fade with each tiny little smile you get or mess you clean up.

Hoping with you that good news is SOON !

[twinflana]

I am sure the pain will disappear and I cant wait for that. One of the girls at work is 3 months pregnant and I keep joking that it is a contest to see who has a baby first her in 6 months or me.

[merrymissy]

We were feeling the same way till 2 weeks ago. We finally signed the contract, and then had a placement call 2 days later! Unfortunately the placement was not a good fit for our family, and we had to make that call. So much for wishful thinking...now I feel like we are right back on the waiting train. Someone commented that it feels like being pregnant. Maybe that's true, but when you are pregnant you know the end result and when it should happen. This feels like the longest pregnancy ever! Any advice on passing the time? We tried to look on the state's (NY) web-site photolistings, but we are not sure why so many of those kids have been on there for so long. DH is convinced that the right placement will come to us if I am patient. Any words of advice on being patient?

[vernellinnj]

My experience...

Submitted my application in June 2004 - was licensed in November 2004. Received a call for a placement the day after I received my license in the mail. Had to turn it down - did not take a placement until March 2005. I had D (2 year old boy) for 6 months. He was reunited with his family but we have maintained contact. I am now his Godmother and get him frequently (he's actually here now - had him for the weekend).

Foster care is a blessing but emotionally draining. I did not enter this with the thought of adopting but now I'm considering private infant adoption in 2006.

P.S. I live in New Jersey and I'm single..

[twinflana]

Well still waiting they were supposed to call me back on Monday and then I realized Monday was a federal holiday so they were probably closed but here it is the end of the day Tuesday and still no call back as to why the holdup.

[hubbyswife]

We had our homestudy and all that done in August 2004. We were waiting on our sw to write it up. We were licensed in January 2005. We then got a call for a 4 yr old a week later. We started everything April 2004. It took about 9 mths for everything. I kept emailing our sw during that time to find out our status. I'd email right after a holiday or every couple of weeks. Our sw is great and she would email me back right away letting me knew where we were and she thanked me for checking up on it. We were ready and excited to get started.

Hang in there.... it will happen soon

[michelleb]

We started this process in 12/03!!
We STILL don't have a placement.
We want only ONE at a time for the frist few and that has been what has been holding us up.
We just switched agencies and now we have to wait until April to take Children & Youth's classes.

I am with ya in the WAITING ROOM!!

[singlemommy]

Wow, I thought my wait was long. I've been licensed to foster/adopt since November 2005 and still don't have a placement.

I've tried the whole 'enjoy your time while you have it' but that's getting a little old. I can only have so many candlelit bubble baths, time to sleep in, and so on. I know I'll want that back later, but right now I want kids. I sound like the blueberry girl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I'm really bloated right now too which may all explain why I'm so darn cranky today.

I've had to say no to 4 calls because I knew it wasn't the right match and still don't regret it, but the thought is always in the back of my mind that I'm not getting anymore calls because I've said no.

I'm at the point now where I don't even get excited to check emails or voice mails because I don't think I'm ever going to get the call for the right match.

Think it's time for some chocolate.

[twinflana]

Well I just talked to the licensing worker and she said that they hired a new program manager and the previous guy left before approving our license, so now the new lady says that the affidavit's of good moral character are missing (they just discovered this when they have had our packet for 3 months, and I know they were there) probably they were misplaced and no one wants to admit it. Also since my youngest turned 18 last month now she has to be fingerprinted so another hold up.

I asked her what the usual wait time is for placement and she said within 2-3 days after being licensed. So that means there are children out there with no foster home to go to because these idiots have been sitting on our packet since November.

There is something wrong with that picture.

[echobunny89]

I'm so sorry you are being put through the wringer with this. Stick with it and plug through the best you can. There are children out there waiting for you! Keep your chin up, your license will get approved it just hit a snag. You will get through it! It is very frustrating to have to deal with this but hopefully it will soon be a distant memory!