[JL Cauling]

Ok, here is the situation....

We live in Michigan and applied for a boy in Ohio.

Two and a half weeks ago we get an email from our CW congrats! You have been selected to parent Joey She requests info from Ohio worker.

Ohio worker promptly takes a 1 week vacation without sending us anything.

Our CW calls Ohio worker who says Oopsie! and priority mails us a one page printout of the information on the OAPL page.

We inform our CW that this sounds fishy and we are thinking of backing out.

Our CW insists that we meet to discuss where we are in an Interstate adoption.

I did some reading online and learned about the interstate process.

Why hasn't the Ohio CW sent us anything? How long can we expect this process to take?

Any help or advice (other than be patient ) is appreciated.

[bumpkin]

Just so that I can understand. You think it's fishy because she just sent you info from the Ohio photo listings page rather than more detailed information about the child? is that correct??? Do you have some objection to meeting witih CW regard interstate info???? I can't imagine how difficult it would be to finally get "the call" and then be left with no info, but I'm not sure why you are thinking of backing out? Can you elaborate or help me to understand better ????

[JL Cauling]

this is the second child in Ohio that we were offered. The first child, we got the call, then we received a 4 inch thick file of information which we spent days poring over.

On this child, we get the congrats call, and zero information. Zip, zero, nada. We request it again and still get no information at all!

I find it highly inappropriate that they are congratulating us on getting this child yet they are unwilling to share any information about him! Which makes me think there is something fishy going on. That the worker is trying to hide something and that is why she *whoops* forgot to send info and when pressed sent us a print out of the webpage, information that we already have.

If they aren't willing to share information with us, then we aren't interested in proceeding. We want to adopt, but to be successful adoptive parents we need as much information as we can get about the child so that we make informed choices and don't fail him.

Also, we are in the process of becoming licensed foster parents, the approval should come any day now. If they aren't willing to be open and honest about the child then we have other options to explore.

[bumpkin]

I totally agree that you need all the information available on this child. I just can't imagine that they would expect you to say OK without more info. The waiting must be horrible, can your CW go over the head of this person? Can you tell me how long you waited from putting in a request for this child? I know the frustration of adoption and am thankful that we have this forum to vent on, but it seems like sometimes the delays, partial info and little communication is common for state social service adoptions (and I know they are overworked, underpaid etcc...) but that doesn't mean that it's any easier to deal with as an adoptive parent. I just hate to think you might pass up on a good match without really knowing if the match is not good or not. Do you think you are not getting info because of some reluctance to place out of state? although this wouldn't make sense with your "congratulations" call.

Bumpkin

[Indy]

JL,

Just as each state is different, so is each county. I have heard that within Ohio, there are "good" counties and not so good ones.

First of all, do they (Ohio) have a copy of your home study? If so, request full disclosure. If they do not provide that...run! Keep looking for your son/daughter.

ICPC does not start until you and the caseworker have agreed to the consideration of placement, visitation, acceptance (by both sides, including Joey), negotiation for AAP, etc. ICPC is the handling of the paperwork between the two states. It sounds like to me that the horse done left the barn without the cart.

You can send me a PM, if you need more information. I have adopted sons from two states, besides my own.

Good luck

[aMarylandfamily]

If the worker is reluctant to provide any records/information, then you need to STOP until they do ... there may be something in his history which might not match up with your parenting abilities and/or desires and you don't want to take on more than you can offer ...

InterState Compact is contacted by the placing agency who requests that receiving agency accept responsibility for the adoption process and care and custody of the child prior to finalization ... it can take from a week or two to months ... depending on how complete the documentation is and what the receiving state will require ... one major question - is Ohio Medical Assistance applicable ... if so - and the child won't be covered under your insurance until finalization (some do at placement and some don't) then you want to request a transfer of that and/or be provided funds to cover any medical expenses to be incurred (remember even a ear infection or tooth filling can add up in that year's time!) ... alot of signatures are required by both ends and then the transition plan is developed and processed. I'm still unsure as to why Medicaid which is federally funded (although the states to pay first and then get reimbursed) isn't universal no matter where the child resides if he is eligible, he is eligible.

Hope this helps ... imagine it will stir another set of thoughts and/or questions. Fire away - if I can help, I will.

Always,
Lynne

[JL Cauling]

I appreciate the responses!!

The congratulations call came from my worker, who received a call from *joey's* worker.

We submitted a request on him back in November, received the call in January.

Yes, the worker does have our homestudy, I had our worker forward it back in November

I have to go to work, back this evening

thanks again!

[JL Cauling]

I spoke with our worker, she has made several information requests to the Ohio worker and received nothing in return.

The worker says he has ADHD, bedwetting and is in special education classes. That's all.

My CW is asking for a copy of his IEP, psych evals, family history and foster parent reports from the last year. I think that sounds reasonable.

Unless Ohio is willing to give us this information we will walk away.

[JL Cauling]

we are going to his presentation tomorrow. We are meeting with his AW, CW and therapist.

we're cautiously optimistic!

thanks again for all of the advice and support

[bumpkin]

Best of Luck... That's certainly progress. Keep us posted!

Bumpkin

[lambeausam]

I hope you are able to receive enough information for your family to make a decision. I would suggest asking for copies of everything. Best of luck to you!

[zoofamily]

We are also in Michigan. We are adopting for the 2nd time (will be 5th child), with a different agency than before. We have a completed homestudy but were just told by our social worker that they don't do out of state inquiries. We are not happy to say the least! There are 2 children in Ohio that we are interested in. I have been trying to find out what agency we can go through to go out of state. I would really appreciate it if you would let me know who you are working with!

Thank you!
Carey Horrigan
brwnigrl73@comcast.net

[JL Cauling]

We did finally have the meeting with Ohio (In late February) and met our son in early march. He came home on Good Friday, his official move in date was April 22.

We are very pleased with how things have turned out!

[Original Mike]

My older son was adopted from Ohio. During my search process, i dealt with four different Ohio counties on four different boys. In Ohio, each county establishes their own procedures. Like in Thw Wizard of Oz, you have to ask "Are you a good county or a bad county."

The County my son came from was very good and professional, but they had an incredible love of paperwork and bureaucracy. Once they had my homestudy, they sent me a copy of his COMPLETE file to review (over 400 pages of medical reports, counseling info, bio family history, etc). I have never seen another file this thourough and I appreciate it very much. matching took a while and visitation dragged on for two and a half months (with me driving eight hours round trip for visits). After matching, they dealt directly with my attorney and my local worker on ICPC issues, so I had very little to do with it.

Another county in Ohio that I was dealing with was quite the opposite. They nver returned calls except to ask for information from my worker. Even after they had my home study, the did not want to give me any info on the boy. After my worker raised a stink, they sent us a two-page "Child Summary" that was three years old! Eventually, we told them "We aren't going to do business this way" and pulled out. Sadly, the boy is still listed on the Adopt Ohio website.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[zoofamily]

Thank you for your reply. Can you email me with the specifics on the counties in Ohio? I would really appreciate it!

As for our situation at present...I was emailed with info from a wonderful women I came across on this forum that gave me the name of an agency in Michigan that does interstate-special needs adoption & the name of her social worker. I called the sw and her supervisor agreed to her taking us on even though they are across the state! She has already mailed out paperwork and is checking on the kids we are interested in. She is driving to meet with us next week already. She wants us to have all our paperwork done when she comes. She will renew our homestudy, which she says should go really fast. I am so excited!! Keep us in your prayer!!