[zookeeper]

Our adoption of an 11yr old boy in Oregon did not work as we were not the family selected by the committee. After 2 months we are very interested in a 13 yr old boy in Maine. We are told that Maine does not use a committee format but the worker and supervisor decide together who to place a child with. Does any one have any experience with the state of Maine?

[Dr. Art]

Does your local worker have that information or can s/he get it for you? That would be nice and helpful for you is that person will do that.

Regards and best wishes

[zookeeper]

Yes, it would be nice and helpful for our worker to provide that information...to make a long story short, she's on vacation for several weeks. Also, this agency has never done an out-of-state adoption before us. Apparently we are "non-conformists", ha ha. Another factor complicating our overall situation is that after a year, almost none of the original people working w/this agency are still there as this agency's primary focus is no longer adoption but only foster care and foster to adopt. Also our worker is very young and there have been some rough times although hopefully they are behind us. I though it would be helpful to hear from someone who's been in that particular "trench" before.

[lucyjoy]

If your agency has never done inter state adoption, be sure to get a lawyer who understands the interstate compact because that can really mess you up.

Write the child's worker and send them a "resume" of your qualifications and why this child can benefit from being part of your family. Give them your workers contact information and then mail a copy to your worker. I've never dealt with Maine, but this will allow the people choosing to have more personnal knowledge of you. Also, send pictures.

[zookeeper]

Those are good suggestions. Thank you. The worker from Maine seems to know alot about the interstate compact but I still like your idea of looking into an attorney to make sure all t's are crossed and i's dotted.