Here's what Foster Care looks like for us...

We may be finalizing Agnes' and Mya's adoptions sooner than we thought!  We were originally told August.  Then last week, we were told late June at the latest.  Now it's looking like it may be late May/early June! 

A lot of people ask me about the whole process, so here's a little rundown as far as to what our foster-adopt journey here in Illinois looks like.

The girls were placed with us on October 15.  Since TPR (termination of parental rights) had already occurred, once they're in our home six months, dcfs can begin the adoption approval process.  So our agency was awesome and had all of their adoption packets filled out, signed, sealed and delivered to dcfs. We met with our lawyer to sign a bunch of stuff and go through the paperwork with a fine tooth comb to make sure everything was accurate and true.  That way by April 15, all was ready to be approved.  The packets were submitted to dcfs and received two weeks ago.  Last week, we heard from our adoption worker that not only were they received, but dcfs was already reviewing them (a few days early even!).

Generally once adoption paperwork hits the dcfs desk, it takes them 4-6 weeks to get to them and review them.  So this is moving quite quick.  That's quite a surprise on our end, especially in our lovely, short on money, short on help state.

Once the adoption packets are approved, they get sent to the courts.  The courts will then determine an adoption date.  Usually a few weeks away. 

If the adoptions packets are denied for whatever reason (usually a paperwork discrepancy) then they send them back to the lawyer and agency and they correct the issue.  That could delay us months.  But we're choosing to assume that all is in line :-).

While the children are considered foster children (before finalization), we have a monthly visit from their case worker.  Last week, we got a call that our case worker has changed (no one seems to know what happened here, all they know is that all of our old case worker's files were transferred and no one knows what went on).  Most of the time, when a new case worker is introduced, it's a hassle.  The kids don't know the new one and there's no relationship there.  However, in our case, it is actually a great thing.

Agnes gets incredibly nervous on and around the day of a case worker visit.  Her prior case worker, N, was the one who had removed her from homes in the last and also the one who had dealt with much of her negative behavior and complaints from the previous home.  Agnes didn't have the greatest association with N, despite really liking her and N being a very nice person.  We stopped telling her ahead of time when N was coming to reduce some of those behavior that showed up around her visit.  Agnes was always very challenging behaviorally when N would visit and then for the rest of the week afterwards.  She told us many times that she was worried that N would take her away again. 

We didn't see those behaviors today when our new cw, A, visited.  Agnes didn't know her or have any previous relationship with her.  She was a little on the wild side with her behavior, but that's typical when anyone comes to our house...  She likes attention and is willing to be crazy to get it. 

Also while they're considered foster children, they have permanency hearings every 6 months.  We went to one in January and it was a super short hearing.  In this case, the permanency goal (adoption) hasn't changed in a while.  Basically these hearings are a way for the courts to stay up to date on what's going on and make sure that things are moving along in a timely manner (ha!! their idea of timely and mine are different!). 

In addition to permanency hearings, there are ACRs (Administrative Case Reviews) every 6 months.  We just had one last week.  These are reviews with a DCFS reviewer who is like a 3rd party to make sure that all services are being followed through with.  Most of the time, these meetings include case workers, foster parents, birth parents, and children.  They discuss the birth parents' service plans and progress, foster parents' plans and services for the children, how the children are doing and any kind of services they've put in place for them, progress in school, how the children feel, etc... 

Our case is a little different, since TPR has already occurred, there's no birth parent involvement at this point.  The kids don't have any services in place, since they haven't needed any.  They're not old enough to "testify" for themselves, but their case worker reported that they were happy and loved their home.  Our case worker wasn't there, this was when whatever happened with her, happened.  Her supervisor was there instead.  It was quick and painless and the supervisor was thrilled to hear how wonderfully they're doing.  The reviewer was equally as happy with things and put a recommendation to speed along the adoption process on their file. 

I'm sure there are other things that happen with foster children, as far as court hearings and such, but since TPR had already occurred, we missed many of those steps.  That's just a glimpse into what foster care entails. It's a ot of work, but it's totally worth it.

We also had our foster care license renewal visit this morning from our licensing worker, J.  She's the same worker who placed Anna and Anthony with us and we've been working with her for 4 years now.  We're keeping our license current in hopes that we get A and M's baby sister (still possible, although, I'm beginning to think it's not that likely). 

We also don't know where God will lead us in the coming years.  Maybe we are a family of 6 forever.  Maybe not.  Maybe we'll foster again, maybe we'll adopt again.  Maybe not.  We don't really know at this point and it's open for discussion down the road.  Maybe we look into to NaPro for more answers as to our infertility, maybe not.  For now we're focusing on finalizing these adoptions and surviving with four toddlers!  We're loving every minute of it!