We ducked under a rope this time...this time

Our au pair (nanny) was going to switch families for her 2nd year in the au pair program, because she wanted some new experiences (& possibly 4 children at some point scared her a bit), BUT at the last minute we jokingly offered her a raise and a ticket to visit Germany to see her best friend....AND she took the deal! Now we don't have to worry about delaying the adoption EVEN FURTHER by getting a whole new person into our homestudy fingerprints, & medical papers, etc.

We use Cultural Care as our au pair agency. We really like having an au pair in the house...soooo nice to not have to wrap the kids up and drag them to someone's house for daycare, etc. We also like the cultural experience it brings to our family. Our current au pair is from Panama and now she will be with is until July 19th of 2011.

After they added, like 2 sentences, our homestudy is STILL with DCFS...ughhh. Then the next step is getting everything apostilled.

Sent to DCFS again

The homestudy agency sent to homestudy to DCFS (a requirement in IL) on March 5th. On April 5th, they heard back, but then they wanted some wording added. So, the homestudy made these changes, but them the adoption agency had to approve it again. Of course, there was the Easter holiday in between all this so that added days as well.

I tried to be proactive and fill out the I800 form, but the I had a question about one section of it and when I asked, the adoption agency said "everything in its time" or something like that.

So, now as I wait for the final, final DCFS approval, I want to get my pictures together. I need 2 sets. Do I glue photos to a piece of paper or do a lay them out and scan them and make a color copy? Do I write captions under each photo? Do they need to be all on one page?

I am so confused by this process!

Now, it doesn't really matter that I have earned a doctorate...this process is meant to drive sane people nuts. At the beginning of February (4 weeks, not including the 2 week winter holiday) we recieved an e-mail from the adoption agency saying that there were some changes that needed to be made in the homestudy. Some of the things that they want out are things that IL require. They are going to figure it out I guess. Then we needed to provide all these finanical documents that I offered up months ago, but our homestudy agency said we didn't need. I guess now we do.



Now there is a break in comminication about the figerprint process. The paperwork from the adoption agency says one thing and the homestudy agency told me to do another thing. This question was poseed to the adoption agency: "Also David and Wynter were not fingerprinted using the FBI fingerprinting cards and sending those off to the FBI directly. The method mostly used in Illinois is to use Accurate Biometrics which scans the prints directly into the system and then using our agency's ORI number, sends a report directly to us. So the documentation for both state and FBI will be a print out - not cards. " What the heck is the difference between cards and a print out????



So we wait to see if we need to do something else. So, after adoption agency approves once again, it is off to DCFS for approval which I am told takes another 3 weeks.

The long, long, long homestudy process

I'm sure that there are large differences in the process between various homestudy agencies. BUT, I never thought it would take THIS long! Today I e-mailed to check the progress of the writing of the homestudy and I was told it was being reviewed . I mentioned that I would like to send it to be apstilled before the holidays. The response was: "Remember the home study draft will first go to St. Mary's, then we have to send it to the State of Illinois/DCFS intercountry for approval before the state will allow us to release it to you or immigration."

There are so many steps that they don't tell you about when you start. Is "state of Illinois/DCFS intercountry for approval" different than apstilling? I assume so. How long does that take????? We had our first interview on October 5th, our 2nd interview on Nov. 2nd...now it's December 15th and it is in review and then state of Illinois/DCFS intercountry for approval ... Are homestudys usually 3 to 4 months?

Something to keep in mind if you are starting this process....ask about the average time for each stage and compare agencies. We didn't really have a choice though, since we had an infant in the house, several homestudy agencies would not do one with us until the baby is over 1 year and we didn't want to wait that long.

Final homestudy meeting

Now we wait for the social worker to type up our homestudy. We have to provide her with a note from our 2nd son's doctor, because he has a heart defect. (not sure why this matters, but we will do so). She said it could take up to a month to put the homestudy draft together.

I have been thinking about the transitional objects. I found a nice soft album on Amazon that seems perfect at http://amzn.com/B000GKW6CY It holds 12 pictures.

I also think a build-a-bear with our voices recorded on it, seems like a good idea. The social worker suggested a blanket, but I like the soft doll idea better, since I'm sure the children all share blankets.

I am sending some of our papers to Michigan to get those apstilled this week. The Illinois papers will have to wait for the completed homestudy.

I hung some pictures of prairie flowers in her room last night. Our 2 oldest boys' room is done in a forest theme, our baby boy has a swamp/marsh theme, and she will have a prairie theme. David explored the doll house designs at Hobby Lobby today! So it's not just me who is jumping the gun a bit with the thoughts of a daughter joining the family.

After the 1st homestudy visit

Four hours is a bit much for my husband, but we made it through all the questions, etc. Both the homestudy agency and the adoption agency wants the original reference forms ...but I think I convinced the homestudy agency to take copies. I asked about the CIS for I600 A, and the homestudy social worker said to file it, BUT Lina (adoption agent) says that it is the I800A form not 600 and that we should wait. I guess I am going with the 800, but at $670 I hope that is right!

We have our 2nd meeting on Nov. 2nd. In the meantime, we have to take 3 more online classes (nothing in person though), type up the answers to almost the same 15 questions the social worker asked us in the meeting, and get the medicals notarized.

Our homestudy is Monday (Oct. 5th)!

I think I have all the paperwork together and probably some that they don't even need. I was a little confused about whether to give up the originals of our references and medical forms, but Lina (from our adoption agency) said to hang onto the originals. I am still confused about the notarized medical forms. Our doctor does not have a notary and Lina said to have our signatures notarized and write on it that it is a true copy of our medical records. Anyone else do this this way? We actually have the same issue with our work letters, no notary there either.

When I read in someone's blog about the homestudy being read out loud, I began to get nervous about what to say. We did a mini-homestudy to become foster parents, so the questions probably won't come as a surprise.

So far I have the following questions:

Should I just include a picture of our house and one of the family, or should I include more than just 2?

When do I file the I 171H (approval form from CIS) form?


What else can we do to fulfil the requirement to attend a face-to-face class for international adoption? We have done 2 online courses, but the homestudy agency says that Illinois requires some of the hours to be in person.