The application came to us in multiple parts. We thought the original 10 pages or so was the full application, but in fact, that was only the first part. In total, we probably filled out about 20 pages of paperwork although some of it turned out to be repetitive information.
The blog post for this video: http://www.faintstarlite.com/2010/05/our-foster-Adoption-journey-step-2-the-application-process/
Each states application looks different, but heres the questions you can expect:
- General information about the household with questions about contact information, education and income.
- Your familys history with drugs and alcohol and psychiatric treatments not just your households history but those in your extended family as well.
- Marriage and relationship history about divorce, co-habitation, and to some degree, your sexual history.
- Whether child neglect or abuse allegations have ever been filed against you or a family member.
- Financial worksheet that details what you are worth and how much you spend. This includes all monthly expenses and how much is in your various bank accounts 401(k), investments, and what your properties are worth. It also includes questions regarding debt on mortgages, loans and credit cards.
In addition, along with the application youll submit:
- Health reports. Every member of the household needs to see a doctor who will fill out a health report detailing if youre all got the required immunizations and are in good health.
- Fingerprints. Each member of the household above 18 will have to participate by submitting to an extensive background check that includes finger printing that gets cross-checked in the state database as well as the FBI database.
- Copies of all birth certificates, marriage certificates, Social Security cards, and drivers licenses.
- Copies of recent pay stubs and tax returns.
- Releases so that previous counselors or social services workers can be interviewed.
- Autobiographical questions about your relationship with your immediate + extended family, details about childhood experiences + traumas, and reasons for deciding to go the Foster Adoption route.
-Several references who have known you for several years and can speak about your character including a reference from your employer.
Watch Part 1 of the foster adoption series – Getting The Facts + Going To An Informational Meeting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJDbSRwIv3U
Thanks to Johnson & Johnson’s Health Channel for sponsoring this video series! I met the director of their channel at a conference awhile back and I ended up telling him about our adoption plans. I reached out to him after deciding to make a series of videos + posts on the topic and J&J said they’d be happy to sponsor it.
Check ‘em out at: http://www.youtube.com/jnjhealth
If you’re looking for more resources on American adoption or about foster care, a great resource is AdoptUsKids.org – they have photolistings, adoption stories, and details about contacting your state’s adoption resource center.
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Currently, there are 496,000 children in the U.S. foster care system and 130,000 of these children are waiting for families to adopt them. The majority of waiting children are of color with older African American boys waiting the longest for Adoption.
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