The Adoption Process
The Adoption Process
“Don’t miss out on an opportunity. There’s no such thing as a perfect child, but there is a perfect child for you.”
at Children Awaiting Parents, Inc., we complete your home study and certify your family for adoption.
Understanding the Adoption Process
Your emphasis should not be on finding the quickest and least intrusive process but rather on discovering your strengths and weaknesses to parent a child with needs. It's also a time for you to understand the issues unique to adoptive parenting.
Our goal is to assure a loving home for each child, and make good matches between prospective parents and children. Investing time and care in the process can reap many long-term benefits for you and your child.
Distance Constraints
All are welcome to join us for virtual MAPP class and other trainings. To best serve you, we request if you live more than 3 hours away, that upon completion of our training you connect with a local agency to do your home study and home inspection. CAP will guide you to the agencies who can serve you in your local community.
Contact us to determine if you can be a CAP familly!
Adoption Fees
When adopting through the foster are system, the fees are minimal.
To learn more,
Contact: Veronica Black
"Adoption 101"
Information Meeting
The first step in you journey to adoption is an adoption informational meeting. At that time, you will learn more about the children waiting for forever families, the adoption process, and the support services that we offer.
Application Process
Next you will complete the application, in which you provide references, have a background check, commplete a medical report including a physical, and participate in a home assessment.
MAPP Training
After that comes GPSII/MAPP training. This is a 30-hour training course given over a 10-week period, one evening a week. MAPP training is designed to teach you the impact of foster care and adoption on both children and families. It also helps you to identify your strengths and their weaknesses – to understand frankly what you can and cannot handle as a parent.
Home Study
Your home study is a written narrative, all about you – your reasons for adoption, your childhood experiences, your support system, the relationships within your family, your communication skills, your ability to manage behaviors, and your ability to assure health and safety of your whole adoptive family.
Search and Match
Once the home study is completed, then what? We work with you to help you identify a child that you could successfully parent. We meet with you every 2-3 weeks to present children that we have identified as possible matches. We also obtain all of a child’s history to help with matching.
Once a possible match is identified and everyone wants to move forward, visitation starts, where the child and family start to spend time with one other.
Placement
The length the visitation phase varies, but once a child is placed in the home full-time, many states require the child to live with the family for at least 3 to 6 months before they can finalize their adoption. During that time, we supervise the placement, by going to your house once or twice a month to assure that the chhild's needs are being met and your family is being supported. We also help provide you with the necessary resources to meet the needs of your child. We are available to you throughout this time to answer your questions and help you with roadblocks and parenting issues.
Finalization
And at last, your adoption is finalized in a court hearing, where you become the legal, permanent adoptive parent(s) of your child.
And of course this is really only the beginning. As you welcome your new child into your family, CAP continues to support you:
