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Adoption Issues/found the "ideal" child

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Expert: - 3/6/2011


Question
Hi,
I have been going through the home study process for over a year now. I have gone from one agency to another and all of them have different things they check for. And when one is done they send me to another. But I have been looking into children for adoption, and I found the "ideal" child. She is a little girl who only wants a mom (and I am a single mother). Only likes dogs (and I have 2). And wants to have the type of mom who has time to home school her (and I do have the time). I want to contact the agency about adopting her but this home study process is taking forever. So my question is can I still contact the agency about adopting her while the home study isn't completed?
Thank You,
Chelsea

Answer
Chelsea,
Thank you for your question.  Children waiting for adoptive families are profiled and are to be considered by home studied approved parents prior to their social worker / agency considering them as adoptive parents.  I am sorry that the home study process especially the length has been frustrating.   I recommend that you speak to your home study social worker and agency regarding this concern and ask them to advocate for you to complete the study.  I am unaware what home study requirements you have needed to tackle.  Please know that all home study agencies are required to follow their state regulations relating to home studies.  In addition they may have their own requirements.  It is necessary for all prospective adoptive parents to attend educational classes or obtain training in some format, especially when considering the adoption of an older child.  
Best wishes to you throughout this journey.

http://www.adoptionstar.com  

Adoption Issues

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Adoption STAR

Expertise

Questions related to domestic and international adoption.

Experience

22 years in the adoption field. Michele Fried is the founder and chair of Adoption STAR. Her foremost responsibilities are the implementation of strategic plans and agency growth/expansion, financial management, board partnerships and supervision of the staff. Michele has her hands full with these responsibilities as well as initiating marketing and public relation campaigns and executing and implementing policies developed by the Board of Directors.

Organizations
CAFFA, JCICS, NACAC

Education/Credentials
Before starting Adoption STAR. Michele worked as an educator in Pennsylvania and then after she and her husband adopted their first child, she entered the field of adoption. In 1989 she founded an adoption agency licensed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Michele’s own family began to grow and they chose to return home to Western New York. Michele began working locally as an Inclusion Coordinator for individuals with developmental disabilities. As the years went by, Michele was inspired by the great need for a passionate, advocacy based, non-profit child-welfare agency in this area and so Adoption STAR was born in March of 2000! Michele is very proud of the work Adoption STAR has done and continues to do, and states she is touched by the incredible birth mothers that work with the agency.

Awards and Honors
The community-at-large has also noticed Michele and her agency. In 2003 Michele received a Business First 40 Under Forty Award and in 2004 WKBW-TV honored Michele by selecting her to be one of the community’s Everyday Heroes. The YWCA also honored Michele in 2005 by selecting her as one of twenty-six women making a difference in Western New York. In 2009 Michele was the recipient of a Business First Women of Influence Entrepreneur Award. On May 1, 2010 during the Dazzling Decade ~ A Night of Star’s 10th Birthday Gala, Michele’s own agency presented her with the First Michele Fried Founder’s Award. In the future, this award will be given annually to an individual whose contributions, expertise, and dedication to adoption mirror Michele’s.

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