[Elle83]

Looking for advice from those who have worked with photo listings before. My SW told me the best plan was for me to give her all the details and she would make contact w/ workers - but 2 months into the process, I have asked her about 15 kids in state and 5 out of state and have heard back about only 2 kids (both with extreme behavior issues). She also referred 3 kids that were not photo listed - we submitted out home study for all 3, never heard back on 2 and was interviewed for 1 (the child was placed with a family that racially matches him better).

So the question - the photo listings include contact info for the worker...has anyone had a good experience with calling/emailing the workers directly ... is this a good idea?

Thanks

[Kansas Girl]

I would say it really varies - from worker to worker and state to state. Most workers I've talked to are very gracious about direct contact. I generally don't contact them unless they contact me first. There are some states that only want worker-to-worker contact - i.e. Oregon.

You probably won't hear back on most of the kids. One worker in San Antonio told me last summer that the number of inquiries and home studies received on their kids had increased considerably over the last few years.....even with all their issues there's lots of competition for these kids. Good for the kids, hard on the adoptive parents-to-be.

good luck!
Fran

[Lylac]

I have 3 kids (seperate adoptions) from the photolistings. I inquire on the kids myself, it always asks for your workers info as well. Most of the time the workers contact me, then I tell my worker about it.

The states that I have worked with is my home state Tn, Ky, Ga and Fl.

[marythemom]

We had our agency contact on about 10 different siblings in photolistings. One of them I sent additional information to after our homestudy had been submitted (letting them know we had family in Nebraska that we visited often - where the children were; and that my husband and children were also part Native American - like the children). This was the only worker we heard back from. The first family they chose fell through. These children ended up being placed with us.

Our agency here in TX contacted us with a few sibling groups not in the photolistings, but we were not really interested in them, because most of them were comprised of children a lot younger than what we were looking for.

[Lorraine123]

Whenever we saw a child on a photolisting, we called. These children are generally harder to place and the workers welcome any interest. They would give us a little more information about the child and we decided whether to pursue and have our homestudy sent. This is how we found our daughter, we called, spoke to her worker, let her know we were interested, sent our homestudy, called to make sure she got it, and later got the call that we were the chosen family.

[SAHmom]

When we started our adoption journey {again} over a year ago, I made phonecalls to the SWs directly if I seen a photolisting of a child/ren that we felt was a match. Some did tell me to go through our SW, but others were more than happen to talk with me. Some even let me know about other children that were not posted on their websites that might have been a match. In fact, with one of the SW that I contacted, we ended up being in the staffing and were 2nd choice. The only involvement from our SW was the day of the staffing. All of the emails back & forth prior to that was between the SW and us.

[jillianjiggs]

We didn't hear back on most of the photolistings, either. In fact, we had better luck with kids that were not on the public listings.

[MilehighDad]

We have had mixed results with photolistings. Many times, there is no response at all from the SW, and many of the listings do not have SW contact info. I would just say to keep trying, two months is really not that long. We have been trying to have a girl placed with us for 9 months, we are still on the list, but they have not even made a final selection.

good luck!

[maya2008]

We have been contacting the worker where we have the information and in most cases this has been good. In several cases we were able to determine through the first call that we would not be a good match. We are on the list for an adorable boy that we hope to have luck with but the process is quite long. We still contact the child's SW weekly just to let her know we are still here and interested. From what I have read persistence and staying on the SWs mind really works. Hope this helps and all the best to you and your future child/ren.

[mamamull]

Hey, there is a radio psychologist who has adopted 11 or maybe 12 kids - he had said no more than 12 because not even Jesus took on more than 12.

Grace happens, really,
Denise

Mom to Claire Christopher & Malachi