A Quick Update

We will meet with Cameron for the final time Monday.  She e-mailed us yesterday several times with simple questions to clarify our answers to the myriad of questions the agency gave us early on.  She is finishing up our PPA (Pre Placement Assessment).  I asked her when we could realistically expect to start receiving referrals (candidates for adoption) and this was her answer . . .

Immediately. I can't officially refer you for children until you have an approved PPA. If everything is signed and ready on Monday, all I'll have to wait on is for my supervisor to approve it. This could take a week or so. Then, if any changes have to be made I can go ahead and make them. This will take not more than a day. I will have already given everything to our assistant and will just have to wait for her to put it on the agenda. This should just take a couple of days. Then the committee will review and hopefully approve and I will hopefully hear something in the next week or two. So, I'd say we are about 3 weeks out, but maybe shorter.

 

You will have to be licensed as foster parents prior to placement in your home. I will have to get my supervisor to sign the application. Hopefully this will take place on Monday. Then I will scan all of your documents in the system, our assistant will review and then I can send. This process is running about 4 weeks.

 

So, towards the end of July we can start receiving referrals and by the end of July we will be licensed to have children actually placed in our home.  This is exciting to me!  I'm anxious to find out more about the siblings, Mia and Fonzie, we learned about early on so we can then either decide to meet them or continue searching and waiting for the right fit(s).  It's been a long 4 weeks since our classes ended. I feel like we lost a month.  I really thought we'd be licensed by now but I didn't take into account the fact that we aren't Cameron's only family : ) 

 

Since classes ended we've been busy finishing our requirements.  We bought a medicine box and lock for it.  All meds in the house have to be kept locked up and, because of moisture, we can't keep them in the kitchen or bathroom.  We also have to move our cleaning products into a locked room once kids are placed here.  In order to be licensed for two more kids we had to add a bed.  Josh built a loft in Ava's room (which got a total makeover) and we are in search of a twin bed frame to go under the loft.  Ava had a physical to complete the medical histories on the family and Josh became First Aid/CPR certified.  I guess we needed the last month afterall.  So, now everything is completed on our end and we wait . . .

 

 

 

 

Now we wait . . .

The waiting game begins.  Our 5-week MAPP (Model Approach to Partnership in Parenting) classes are complete!  Our social worker, Cameron, says she'll call to make the 4th of 4 appointments with us in 2-3 weeks.  At this meeting we will sign our PPA (Pre-Placement Assessment) and our foster care application.  They will then be sent off to her supervisor and a committee hopefully for immediate approval.   Before she can do this Josh has to become First Aid/CPR certified and Ava still has to have a physical.  This is all scheduled for the week of 6/17. We had our fire inspection today.  These things may not actually be required to start receiving referrals but we will have to have them done anyway.  We'll be able to hand in all of our paperwork completed when we meet with her. 

Realistically we could begin receiving referrals (candidates for placement in our home) in July!  Of course, we may not receive any until much later.  We purposely left our profile  a little more open to receive a broader spectrum of candidates.  We are looking for boys 5-8 or a sibling group 5-10, any race.  Hopefully that will lead to more referrals.  We feel that we will just know when the 'right fit' is presented to us.  We are so prayerful about it.  I am incredibly nervous and excited at the same time!  This is going to be a long month : )  Waiting . . .