[rbmcqueen]

Can anyone tell me where in Florida to contact to get a homestudy done as quick as possible for an international adoption. There is a special needs baby I am desperately in love with, I have been looking forever. I did thing backwards, and I don't want to lose him. Also, Is there anywhere that takes payments or reduces the fees for the homestusy if you are adopting a special needs child. Please, any infor will help.

[Dearonebaby]

First I would ask what country the child is in? because your Ins and Passport would more than likely be the longest hang up, and most agencies do cut costs for fees for special needs but we can't direct you anywhere without knowing which country since every agency has their chosen countries on the docket.

[sak9645]

If a child has significant special needs, the agency representing him/her may well reduce its component of the adoption fees in order to help find him/her a home. Of course, the agency can't eliminate fees not paid directly to it, such as airfare or the USCIS fees, but it can reduce the agency fee substantially.

Whether you need an expedited homestudy depends on the country from which you are adopting. As an example, you don't need it for China's Waiting Child program.

With this program, if you find a child you can parent on an agency's Waiting Child list, you ask the agency to consider you. If the agency feels you are the best qualified family, it will send some brief information about you to China immediately. China can decide to reject you as unqualified, or it can give preapproval. Only after it gives preapproval do you need to get your homestudy, USCIS clearance, and dossier done.

Once you have an approved homestudy, your USCIS clearance, and your dossier, you send it to China. China will then review it in an expedited manner. If this paperwork shows nothing that changes China's opinion of your qualifications, it will approve you to adopt the child and officially refer him/her to you. Then, you will wait for China to grant travel authorization and travel to meet and adopt your child.

Except in a huge emergency, where a child really needs an operation urgently, getting an expedited homestudy is not a good idea. The whole purpose of the homestudy is to prepare you for the challenges of parenting an adopted child. This preparation cannot and should not be done quickly. Adequate counseling about issues such as transracial parenting, medical risks in adoption, dealing with a child's sense of grief and loss, etc. takes time, but it can really help you parent your child effectively.

Sharon

[Shelley]

I recently returned from China, 1/27/06, with our newly adopted w/c. When we found her the end of May 2005, we were not even close to being paper ready.(we hadn't even started paperwork) That said From LOI 6/3/05, or letter of intent to being home was just over 7 months. Which is significantly shorter than going the non-special needs route. THe wait seemed like forever, but it gave us time to prepare for her and to prepare our other children. We are in Fl. too. Our homestudy took a month, but waiting for the FDLE clearance took over 6 weeks,so they couldn't finish the hs until that came back. INS had our I-171H back to us 2 weeks after printing (Jax office).
We did start right away on our paperwork once the LOI was sent, which was taking a gamble as we needed a family size waiver.
This was our 2nd special needs adoption, so we did have an idea of what we could expect, it also helped with getting our family size waiver.
I agree with SHaron, while the wait might seem to be forever, there are certain things you need to do prepare for adopting a sn's child. Please feel free to pm if you have any questions, SHelley

[rbmcqueen]

I am sure that I will have many more questions along the way. I appreciate all of your help thanks