Grandparents Raising Children Support Group
This community is dedicated to grandparents who are the primary caregivers of their grandchildren. In cases where the parents are not willing or able to provide adequate care for their children, grandparents may take on the role of primary caregivers. Join the support group to find support, share your experience, and get advice from other members.
We have our adoption hearing date on April 10. Everything has to go through an official adoption agency. Late in January they sent us a 1" thick ream of forms to fill out. They want to know EVERYTHING!
We had to be fingerprinted, get a police background check. They want our driver abstracts. They want official child abuse background checks for every state we've ever lived in. Medical records. Tax returns. Marriage certificates. They even want PET VACCINATION RECORDS! And a snapshot of us all.
We have to get it all done immediately so the agency can do the home visit and make the hearing deadline. We've never been so overwhelmed in our lives. Making copies, filling out endless paperwork for THREE kids. And on top of that we get to pay $1200 for all of our effort - PLUS the cost of the drivers abstracts, fingerprinting, background checks, etc.
And this is for three kids who have lived with us for 10 years. I can't imagine how awful it would be for someone who is adopting a stranger's child.
So far we're into the lawyer for $2,000, plus the home study, plus the lawyer's costs at the hearing.
The moment that packet goes into the post office I'm gonna open a HUGE bottle of wine. LOL!
We had to be fingerprinted, get a police background check. They want our driver abstracts. They want official child abuse background checks for every state we've ever lived in. Medical records. Tax returns. Marriage certificates. They even want PET VACCINATION RECORDS! And a snapshot of us all.
We have to get it all done immediately so the agency can do the home visit and make the hearing deadline. We've never been so overwhelmed in our lives. Making copies, filling out endless paperwork for THREE kids. And on top of that we get to pay $1200 for all of our effort - PLUS the cost of the drivers abstracts, fingerprinting, background checks, etc.
And this is for three kids who have lived with us for 10 years. I can't imagine how awful it would be for someone who is adopting a stranger's child.
So far we're into the lawyer for $2,000, plus the home study, plus the lawyer's costs at the hearing.
The moment that packet goes into the post office I'm gonna open a HUGE bottle of wine. LOL!
I think it is crazy that they will allow a child to live with you indefinitely without any check but once you try to give them your name...all h*ll breaks loose!
And thank God my husband's ex has her copy of the divorce decree - they wanted that, too! I don't know how we can possibly get everything to them before they schedule the home study. And I have no idea how they can have their report completed in time for the hearing.
SUCH STRESS!!!!!
Bio parent to call agency to talk to them about the adoption
Child abuse information forms (for all states we lived in)
Letters of reference sent directly to the agency
Medical reports for my husband and me
Medical/social histories for each child (10 pages long, 3 kids)
Corporal punishment declaration (just needs to be signed)
Background information for each bio parent (8-10 pages each)
Home Study Questionnaire (20 pages long)
Fingerprinting Forms (additional cost of $100 for both of us)
Local police report (free, but we had to go to the station)
Driver history abstract (takes a few weeks and costs $20)
Pediatrician's Report
Client rights form (just needs to be signed)
Recent color snapshot of us with the kids
Most recent tax return
W-2 forms
Pet vaccinations
Birth certificates
Marriage certificates
Divorce decrees
Valid ID for each adult (copy of drivers license, etc.)
That way, when the official request comes in you won't have to scramble as much to get everything completed in time.