Where we are in the sticky red tape of it all...

So...how did we end up here?? Well, it all started with a website (doesn't it always?) I knew that adoption, specifically foster adoption, was the right fit for ME---but I had to convince Brian. I knew that the second he heard a child call him "Dad", that would be it--he would be in for the long haul. But I needed him to take that first step with me. So, I logged onto Google (where else?) and ended up on the AdoptUSKids website; a national photolisting of all the kids in foster care currently awaiting adoption. After a LONG search, I selected three sibling groups (yes, I said "group"---go big or go home, people) to cautiously show Brian. He didn't even blink. He still had some reservations, but he gave me the okay to start making phone calls.


Once you start looking at foster care from an adoption-only perspective, it means you look nationwide, and chances are, you will very likely end up with children from out-of-state. I started calling family services offices in Texas, Oregon...just looking for a place to start. I got a million different answers, and it quickly became frustrating. I just needed some ANSWERS!!


I got a phone call from a family friend, Linda, to whom I now owe a HUGE debt of gratitude. She directed me to Gateway-Longview,  a subsidized organization that works in tandem with Erie County Family Services to do a myriad of amazing things. In addition to training foster and adoptive families, they also provide residential services for troubled teens, family counseling, day care and therapeutic services, most importantly for us, provide matching and legal services for families hoping to adopt out of foster care. After a million unanswered phone calls to other agencies, I called Gateway and got someone on the phone immediately. Michelle, the supervisor, set us up with Kara, a parent trainer and homefinder.  It was a Thursday. They had foster certification classes starting on Monday, and they were willing to work with us to get us in the class!! In ten minutes on the phone with Gateway, I had more answers than I had gotten in two weeks of chasing my tail with other agencies. I was impressed, and my energy was renewed.


SO...six weeks, a million pages of paperwork, two homestudies and a LOT of learning later, we are being certified next week, and then the matching will begin.


Did you know, that right now, over 123,000 children are available for adoption through foster care in the United States??