[honu]

I met a 6 y/o little boy at the hospital I work at in MO and saw that he was being placed for adoption in April. I inquired about him and was just chosen for placement. I am in MO also, but my husband and I were homestudied by Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and have not gone through any procedures for adoption in MO as of yet. Here are my questions if anyone can help I'd greatly appreciate it.

Will we be required to take the classes before the child is placed with us? That will take a long time and I can't imagine they would want to delay his placement. What kind of benefits are folks receiving in MO for kids taken from their parents due to abuse and neglect and that have emotional problems requiring a self contained classroom? What kinds of other things should we be thinking about, worried about, asking questions about?

Thanks for any help you can provide, our previous adoption through Cherokee Nation with a 13 y/o was really very different from this one.

[honu]

I asked the SW about the adoption classes and she didn't seem to know for sure either. I hate dealing with SWs sometimes!

[wolfgirl9204]

Hi there! I'm going through the same process right now. Yes, you'll need other things in addition to a homestudy. If you live in OK then you'll need to follow their procedures to become a liscenced foster parent. If you're in MO then you need to go through the PRIDE (formerly called STARS) classes, go through background checks, and a physical to become a liscenced foster parent. After that you need to go through the Spaulding Classes, typically a weekend long, in order to adopt. Typically whether or not you intend to adopt you need to foster the child for six months before the adoption process begins.

If you're interested in this particular child, contact his social worker.

[Jensboys]

In order to get the behavioral/medical pay you must go through their higher level of training as well and fill out forms that are pretty close to 90 pages long or so. I know that this process has been HUGELY Difficult for our sons former foster parent to do for her adopted son. He requires hospitalization for psychiatric issues and is homicidal, and they still wont offer her more resources until she completes the entire process.