[eodfamily]

First off, Hello!

We're an army family stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado. We'll be heading to Leavenworth here in about 4 months for a short year. Which is great as it's 30 minutes from "home" for both of us (St. Joe).

Here in Colorado you have to foster for 6 months before being able to adopt, unless taking a hard to place child. We just lost two little girls that we were told from the beginning would be terminated on after having them for 4 1/2 months. They went to the younger ones bio dad who decided he could do it at the last minute. The were removed from him two weeks later. With no change in visit schedule or any rush to go back to court (30-60 days) we chose to not be the cushion for the system to dump them on us to get happy and healthy again just to pull them away from us. Heart breaking decision to say the least.

We feel we would be best with an under 3 year old girl and our agency here has pretty much laughed at the notion that that might happen and get a "normal" child. Are we really asking to much? Anyone with experiences to share? Also does anyone have an agency they would recommend? I do not want to do foster again I don't think unless I have no other choice.

Thanks for listening to me ramble on!

[zombie]

So are you only going to be in MO for a year? If so, that probably isn't long enough to do much of anything. You need to call Social Services in your new county to see if your license will transfer. If not, you will have to be relicensed which can take a while.

Are you only interested in straight adoption through foster care?

[eodfamily]

Originally Posted by zombie

So are you only going to be in MO for a year? If so, that probably isn't long enough to do much of anything. You need to call Social Services in your new county to see if your license will transfer. If not, you will have to be relicensed which can take a while.

Are you only interested in straight adoption through foster care?

Yes only a year and not sure where after that. My hope was to get started now with a new agency to get a jump on things. We want a child from the foster system but not one that is over the age of 3 and there in lies the problem according to our agency now. I just didn't know if anyone loves who they are using now or if calling social services is the route to go. We're using Bethany Christian services here. Since we'll be right on the border and will have a tie to both states I figured an agency would be the better route to go then with SS who would be tied to only their county.

[zombie]

If you want to adopt a child from foster care, you will need a foster license for MO. I do not think they will let you get started on one until you live in MO. It takes several months, up to a year to just get your license. Then, it is hard to find a child to adopt, especially one under 3. After you get a child placed with you for adoption, you have to have them for 6 months before you can finalize the adoption in court. I don't really think it is possible to do all that in just 1 year. If you get lucky and your license transfers, you can try, but it is still unlikely to be enough time. You may be better off trying for a domestic infant adoption with an agency that can work with you through all your moves.

[LauraRoxane]

Hi there,

My husband and I are both on active duty in the Army. We are in Seoul, South Korea. Our adoption agency is Adopt Abroad, Inc. in Pennsylvania - I recommend that you contact them. They did our home study here in Seoul and we are being considered right now for several waiting children in Missouri, Nebraska, Florida, and Georgia.

The fact that you move around a lot due to military service does NOT have to be an obstacle to doing a foster-care adoption - you just need to find an agency like ours that knows how to do help local adoption caseworkers through the interjurisdictional aspect of it and find adoption caseworkers in various states/counties who are willing to think outside the box and to consider placing children with a military families.

Military families have tremendous resources to offer waiting children - don't give up - find an agency that specializes in military family adoptions and keep pushing forward. It will happen.

[LauraRoxane]

This website has lots of helpful information for military families who want to adopt:

Adoption Resources for Military Families - AdoptUSKids

Don't give up!