[SarahsFaith]

Dear shnoogiepoo,
I am so sorry to read your story, it wrenches my heart. I pray comfort for you and peace over you, and safety, health and protection for "your" baby boy. I cannot even imagine going through what you are, oh I pray he comes home to his true Mama who loves him and cares for him so very much...you!!! I also pray that yo uhave a loving, supportive husband.
Blessings and Peace, SarahsFaith

[shanzelka]

We have finished all the classes, paperwork, three visits with the caseworker, and are now waiting for the inspector (evidently there's one guy for the whole state of AZ). Our caseworker estimates late August-early September for us to be licensed. Can anyone share how they waited after they were licensed before a child/children were offered to them? We are hoping to adopt one girl/two girls (ages 3 to 7), or a girl and boy (under age 6 so they can share a room until my older son finishes college and moves out). We aren't even to the official waiting period, and the waiting is driving us crazy! (We started this adventure in late March). Susan

[afdonn]

I was licensed for foster care in the beginning of nov. last yr. and I had accepted a fost/adopt placement before Christmas. Then less than a month later, another placement- which didn't work out, but lasted about 10 wks. I also have done respite a couple of times(I currently have 2 respite kids with me). I am also in the process of adopting my 1st fost/adopt placement-yea!!! So I wouldn't think you would have to wait too long, there are so many kids that need homes-they are in group homes because of the lack of places to go. Good luck, I'm glad to hear of others in Az also, so I'm not the only one(ha ha). Anne

[shanzelka]

Thanks for the quick response!
It seems like we've been waiting a long time already, but the official waiting won't even start until early September. It's heartening to hear you didn't have to wait long. What parameters did you set for ages and "issues"?
When I married my husband my boys were 8 and 10 (they're now almost 21 and 23), and he missed out on the younger ages. The boys also called him Dale instead of Dad, because they had a dad. He's looking forward to having little ones in the house even more than I am! Thank you again, and I'll keep you posted on our progress! Susan

[afdonn]

As for ages I said under age 7 because my bio daughter is 10 and I didn't want too close in age to her. But I also said over the age of 1 because I wasn't ready at the time for a newborn, I said not any issues that would be "too much" for me, since I didn't want to get in over my head on a first placement, and didn't want to negatively effect my bio daughter. I said no to RAD, FAS, and a lot of other things too. Maybe in the future, but not right now. I said any race, but specified I wanted a girl. When you do fost/adopt you have a staffing before you accept placement of a kid so you can go over the details of the case, and you can decide then if you are interested. Don't be afraid to say no, this one doesn't feel like the right one. Good luck, let me know how it goes. Anne

[HappyHeart]

It's been awhile since I've been to this board (p.s. I am "happymom29" noted on page 1 of this board..)

Anyway---to catch you up to speed... we are still on track with adopting the baby boy of the bmom who chose us back in May. Baby is due in about 4 wks (if on time of course--and what baby is!) It feels like we've been waiting forever, but at least we're in the home stretch. Bmom has shown absolutely NO signs of changing her mind --in fact --everything she has said assures us that soon, this baby will become part of our family --forever.

[Bryan]

Adopting DES children is FREE, there are no costs associated to this process. If you are being charged, you need to leave your agency.

There are two agencies you can contact: AAFC (Arizona Action For Children) and AASK (Adopt A Special Kid). You can move your homestudy to either organization. Not that AAFC does not "find" kids for you, however AASK will get involved. There will be a "release of information" form you will need to fill out with either of these two agencies in order to switch over.

Infants are available, as well.

Total cost per kid = $2,000-- this is for your lawyer when the case is filled in court [1 year after adoption], and is 100% refundable (most lawyers will wait for the refund).

Bryan

Originally posted by bigkids
We were looking at doing an out-of-state adoption because we weren't being told about any of the 6500 DES kids in AZ. We have found 4 different sibling groups throughout the US that looked like a good match for us. Our case worker keeps telling us that "kids on the internet are the difficult ones to place and there are extra fees involved." We just recently pulled out of a staffing for an 8 & 6 year old sibling group because our agency will charge us $10,500 for an out-of-state adoption. Hello?! These are DES KIDS, not infants

[shanzelka]

We just had our inspection a couple of days ago and our caseworker says we'll be licensed by the end of the week. Now the "real" waiting starts! Susan

[Bryan]

Shanzelka,

There are 3 words you need to learn when dealing with a social worker--

TRUST BUT VERIFY

In 30 years of dealing with social workers at all levels, I've yet to find one honest enough to call a 'friend'. Keep this in mind when/if the lies start pooring in.

[shanzelka]

We've already been less than impressed with our caseworker. Thanks for your advice! Susan

[pb0522]

Just in case anyone is looking...We adopted through American Adoptions and had a great experience. Everyone at the agency was really helpful and our adoption was complete in right at 6 months. Good luck!

[shanzelka]

On the day we were licensed we were given twin 2-year olds. We were lead to believe that they had been removed from their home before and it might be possible to keep them in the future. After we got them we found out this was the first time they'd been removed, and they had two siblings. We went ahead and took their older sibling (age 10) because we found out she was in a shelter. Their plan is to be returned home, but not anytime in the near future. We decided that we would let them move to a more long-term foster home at the end of three months so that our home would be open for children that could be adopted. We will now only take kids that are already free or are in the process. We're looking for one or two children, ages 3-7. Do they always do this to "newbies"? Susan

[shanzelka]

Haven't posted here in awhile. We were licensed in September 2003, got three foster kids who we couldn't keep and were finally moved to long-term foster homes, and during that time had one red file staffing (we weren't picked). We're still waiting for our "forever" kids. How long has everyone here waited for kids? Susan

[mina2u]

I'm not trying to foster, just adoprt. We were licensed end of October 03. We had a couple of close matches, but did not get picked. We are just twiddling our fingers, wondering who we will be blessed with. We are looking to adopt older kids. We thought that sib groups would be easier to get, but we haven't had any better luck with that either.

[shanzelka]

We continue to wait, too. They keep saying there are all these kids out there who need homes--we're ready, where are the kids????