[crzydayz]

Hi there, this is my first post so I hope I'm in the right place. My husband and I have been married 7 years and have two children g-4 and b-2 they will soon be 5 and 3 and we are ready for our next step in life. I have contacted 4 agencies and no one has mailed me any info, can anyone help. I don't know anyone who has done foster care or foster to adopt which is what we would like to do. Any suggestions?

[laurawynne]

Hi crzydayz!! We sound like we have some similarities. My husband have been married 12 1/2 years and have two boys 7 and almost 4 (both biological). We have identified a child on the AdoptUSKids from a different state. We are eager to get on with our homestudy so that there might be a chance to actually try to adopt this boy in particular. If we want to adopt off of the photolisting, where is the best place to get a quick homestudy done. We live just outside Chicago. Can we just get one done privately and then apply it to a tax credit? Or do we need to get a special foster care homestudy? Any information would be great.

[laurawynne]

Dear crzydayz, I just got a recommendation for my specific interstate need. The head of children's ministry at our church has adopted I think 5 kids through foster care. She is the one who recommended it. Do you live in the Chicago area? I could ask her if she would mind answering some questions for you. I also have a neighbor who adopted this way from children available in Illinois. How are things going?

[crzydayz]

We are actually about 3 hrs south of Chicago, but would appreciate any help. We are still just trying to get as much info as possible before jumping in. I did however get a name of a lady who has adopted thru foster care 3 times, so hope to get some good advice there.

[laurawynne]

Dear crzydayz

I have just been on the phone for 3 days trying to figure out what kind of home study we need in order to adopt from foster care and still be able to use our home study for national photolistings. I called many different agencies in two states. Here is our answer. We have chosen Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (check them out online). We are going to do the Adopt only route, but will still have to do the 27 hours of PRIDE training to be fully considered. We are not looking at being foster parents now, but with this training we can still be considered for a child who is in the last part of the termination of parental rights. I have two friends who adopted through LSSI... one from Guatamala and the other through foster care. Both recommendations were high. It turns out that we will have to pay for the training unless we adopt through Illinois. This way we will get an actual copy of our homestudy too, just in case someone approaches us with a waiting toddler through some other route or from another state. If we do adopt a child from Illinois foster care, Illinois will pay us back for the home study. If we go to another state to adopt, we might still be refunded from that state... but it is not certain. In any event, the 10000$ federal tax credit will cover that cost.

[jillned]

I am in the SW suburbs of Chicago. We went through PRIDE 3 years ago and our homestudy etc. We did not pay for our training since we were going to be foster parents as well, but we did pay for our homestudy since we were mainly pursuing infant adoption. We used Catholic Charities, and I really liked them. Our SW really knows her stuff. Since then, we have adopted 2 infants from straight adoption and we are now fostering a 3 1/2 week old that we hope leads to adoption.

[farmerfamily]

Hi, everyone.
We are looking to foster, maybe foster-to-adopt, in Illinois. We're in Northern Illinois. I, too, called several agencies, but no one seemed to know what they were talking about. Now I contacted DCFS. One of our main objectives was to help a kid in need -- we already have 3 bio kids and our family is fine the way it is, though we think we have enough room in our home and hearts for another one or two. DCFS has already come out and declared our home safe, and hubby and I begin the PRIDE class this weekend. My understanding is that going through DCFS we're limited to in-state kids, and we will foster first. The case worker said that only 20% of the kids in our area who come into foster care go permanently back to the home -- the rest are adopted. So this seems like a good way to go right now. I guess we'll see! Keep up the posts -- interested in what happens with everyone! -- farmer family

[laurawynne]

Dear Farmer Family, Since my last posting, I have completed my 27 hours of PRIDE training. My husband will be done by mid April. We have filled in the medical forms, gotten fingerprints, etc. We are going through Lutheran Social Services and have only had to pay 250$ application fee. Even though we are looking to adopt a child under 3 (still considered infant in some places), we are NOT paying for our home study. I would DEFINITELY interview the different licensing agencies that have contracts with the DCFS. Ask them about their record of placing children for adoption, ask them about the population they serve (older kids? respite? medically sensitive?). I have been told more than once not to go directly through DCFS, but use and agency.... unless you are geographically too far removed from other options. Initially we will be limited to in-state kids, but we are allowed to chose the placement based on chance that this child will be available for adoption or not ( 50%, 75%, 100%). If we are in the system without a match for a long time, we can take our homestudy to another state, but we might have to reemburse the state of Illinois for the study or add some other state's requirements onto our training. We are hopefull for a match, because we are open to any race. DO NOT feel pressured into traditional foster care placement if that is not where your heart is. BE HONEST about your intentions to adopt. It is best for you and the children. God bless you. Keep on the path!! The training is long, but just go one step at a time and it seems to get done. -LauraWynne biomom of b-7 1/2 and b- 4.

[sundara]

I agree with all the above. We also went thru LCFS instead of DCFS. We did pay up front for our home study because we were pretty sure we would adopt from out of state and ended up doing that, but the other state picked up our homestudy cost once the adoption was finalized (reimbursed us) and they also paid our IL lawyer.

This option seemed best to us because it broadened our search for a child to the entire US, and we could still also consider IL kids too. We ended up adopting from Iowa (my husband has family ties there, but this was not a relative adopt). The ties to the state was a factor in our being selected for our kids, BTW, as they wanted to get our kids away from the area they lived in, but wanted someone who understood where they were from, and wanted them to have opportunities to visit.

[lambeausam]

Depending on which county you live in, DCFS may not license you if you are looking just to adopt. They are channeling their resources toward families willing to foster as well. No matter which agency or adoption route you take, you will be required to complete foster parent training and the adoption conversion class. If you are looking to just adopt, I would definitely suggest going through a private agency.

What county are you in?

Sam

[farmerfamily]

Well, we are just going through DCFS. When I mentioned adoption to the people on the phone, not infant adoption and not international, they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. We're near Rockford, Illinois. So, we're going with DCFS and we'll just see what happens.

We have started PRIDE, I've had my physical, we've had the SW out to our house and we'll probably get fingerprinted this week. I'll probably press the SW more on this, but she did say that only 20% of the kids being put into foster care in our area are permanently back in their own homes -- the rest are adopted.

[Auntie2Mary]

Originally Posted by crzydayz

Hi there, this is my first post so I hope I'm in the right place. My husband and I have been married 7 years and have two children g-4 and b-2 they will soon be 5 and 3 and we are ready for our next step in life. I have contacted 4 agencies and no one has mailed me any info, can anyone help. I don't know anyone who has done foster care or foster to adopt which is what we would like to do. Any suggestions?

First get you foster home lisence. The home study is free
then you would need to contact an agency or use this web site for waiting children. You will not get a baby with foster to adopt unless it is a baby that has been in your foster care. We want to adopt an older child or siblings. Good luck

[crzydayz]

Hi Jill, your journey sounds like it has been wonderful so far, I can not wait. We have 2 pride classes left, but have really not had any contact so far with anyone from our agency. We are also using Catholic Charities and we are very interested in adopting, I would love to hear more on how you did this. So a couple of questions, I think you said you became foster parents but paid for your home study, then you could also just adopt? When you adopted the first to children, how did you go about that compared to fostering out of the welfare system. I have a ton of questions, but will start at that.

[jillned]

Originally Posted by crzydayz

Hi Jill, your journey sounds like it has been wonderful so far, I can not wait. We have 2 pride classes left, but have really not had any contact so far with anyone from our agency. We are also using Catholic Charities and we are very interested in adopting, I would love to hear more on how you did this. So a couple of questions, I think you said you became foster parents but paid for your home study, then you could also just adopt? When you adopted the first to children, how did you go about that compared to fostering out of the welfare system. I have a ton of questions, but will start at that.

Hi........Since we knew we wanted a family and adoption was the only route for us to go, we just pursued regular infant adoption first. We did a few respite fosters in between adopting our first 2 kids. Back in the fall, I mentioned to our SW'er that I would like to have one more (another son ) but at that time we could not afford adoption fees again. (We kept tying up our money in fees and finally needed it back from our taxes to do some things around our house) Then in December, we got the call for Baby C thru foster care. We were picked because A) we wanted a boy B) we were one of a few families willing to fost/adopt AA children within our agency. It seems to be going towards TPR and adoption but I don't want to get too excited yet. Anyway, I don't know if this helps but let me know if you have any other questions.

[AnneR]

Hi everyone. Wanted to share a brief history of our experiences. We are in the Moline/Rock Island area and went through Bethany for Children and Families. We went through PRIDE, but specified we wanted to be adopt only. After a year, my SW suggested we start looking at bordering states online. I also registered with ILLINOIS CHILDREN They send out a book (quarterly now) with waiting children available for adoption. We inquired on a mixed race sibling pair 5 & 6 years old, and a few months later were contacted as potential parents. We met the kids, they moved in, and while we hit a few bumps with staffing changes in juvenile court we are only a few short months away from finalizing. In regards to the listings My recommendation is talk to the current foster parents, because what someone else grades as a moderate disability may really be minor. I also had hesitations about adopting older children, but it really feels like they've been here forever. And I did eventually get baby pictures! I wish you all well in your journeys!