July 19, 2009

For those of you who don't know David and I for the last 4 months have been taking steps in the process to adopt a teenage boy. A friend asked me to give an ideal of what the process has been like thus far. So I will try and remember everything, but I am sure I will leave a few things out.
Let me start by saying that I have always wanted to adopt since I was little, so when doctors told David and Myself that we may never have children we started discussing the topic. Well as most of you know David and I did have two kids. (God knows and doctors don't!) Anyways so after Josiah was born adopting was laying heavy on my heart. So for the next several months David and I talked generally about adopting. It was not until March of this year that we felt the time was right to explore the process and see what all it would in tel. On March 16th we took the informational class which consisted of a few hours giving a small synopsis of how the process works. After that we decided to go ahead and take the MAPP class. (Model Approach to Partnership and Parenting). This class was eye opening. On March 26 we took the first class, or orientation. Followed by a month of MAPP training two nights a week. And thank you to the Aust family for watching and caring for the two little ones while we learning and gaining information on foster care and adoption. The MAPP classes are for both Foster and Adoption, and I believe depending on who does the class it will learn towards more foster or more adoption. Our trainer was a case worker for Foster Care. She was a great teacher, however she tried on many occasions to get us as well as others to foster rather than adopt. Knowing they need good families to help them foster these children, I do NOT understand why they would try and change a family from wanting to take a child FOR LIFE and ask them to be a temporary care giver. Anyways, the MAPP class's purpose is to:
-Prepare you for the role of fostering and adopting
-Decide if the time is right for you to foster/adopt
-Work with agency to assure safety, well-being, and permanence for children
-Decide if you are willing and able to partner with other adults important to the child

Over all the class was great. We learned alot about ourselves but most importantly that there are too many children in foster care and that God was calling us to help.
During the class we learned that Devereux was backed up with Home Studies for almost a year. So we decided that we would contact Kids Hope United which was able to start on our Home Study right away. Our last class was on May 11th and David and I had our finger prints done on May 14th thus starting the home study process.
Since then we have had 3 home visits by a wonderful case worker! And since we were having trouble getting fingerprints back Kids Hope made special arrangement for us to attend the Adoption Event on June 27th. At the event we met about 5-6 teenage boys that all touched our hearts, however there was one young man that we think we clicked with very well.
Since the event we have just recently gotten all fingerprints back and our Home Study is at the State for approval. We should have is back early this week.
Our next step will be our "disclosure meeting". This is where we will get to read all information on ***** that Kids Hope has. They do this so that families will know exactly what they are getting in to. As well as we may be meeting with doctors, therapist and case workers. This part of the process is extremely important to me. Because David and I have two small children we have to ensure that their safety is number one. So please be praying that is all goes well this week. After the disclosure I believe that we can start getting together with *****. From what I have been told ***** wants to take things very very slow. Which is OK with us. We understand he has been though so much and we want this process to go at his speed!

So I hope this explains some of the process of adopting out of Foster Care. If anyone reading this is interested in getting more information about Foster Care or Adopting I have given a link to the Metro Orlando Heart Gallery where you can get any information you may need.
http://www.heartgallerymetroorlando.org/