Homestudy and Fingerprints

We just got an email from our Katey Rusell, our social worker: she has finished preparing our homestudy and will be sending it to APAC today!

I also just called the fingerprint clearing house and we (well, Mike at least) have been judged "suitable" as adoptive parents.

YEAH!!!

Here's what happens next: 

The homestudy goes to APAC for review before sending it to DHR for our final approval as adoptive parents.  This step helps ensure that by the time it gets to DHR nothing has been overlooked and nothing is missing.  There is a slight chance it could still come back for further work but this quality control step helps to reduce the odds that it will.  This process can take about three weeks.

Next, the homestudy goes to DHR for final approval.  Assuming everything checks-out, we will be approved as adoptive parents.  This step can take quite a long time and we anticipate this occurring no sooner than the end of August.

Once we have been approved, we can request information on specific sibling pairs we would like to be considered for.

Keep us in your prayer - we covet them.  There is a LOT of waiting at this point and neither Kerri nor I are good at that.  Especially in THIS, we are both more of a microwave than a  crockpot.

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Ain't technology great (for the lazy)!

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Fingerprints (for real...)

Last week Mike contacted DHR to see if there was anything that could be done to track the status of his and Kerri's fingerprints check.  He and Kerri submitted their fingerprints electronically on March 18 and had heard nothing since then.

When he called Tuesday they said Kerri's report had already been processed and returned to Alabama but Mike's prints had been placed "on hold" due to an error.  Apparently, had he not called, they would have remained on hold until someone DID call.  The person he spoke with explained the error (simple but too lengthy to go into here), cleared it and submitted the fingerprints for processing.  She told him to call back last Friday, May 7.

Today, he called back and YIPPEE they have been processed and returned to Alabama for approval.

At this point, the Alabama DHR will review the reports that came back with the prints and we will either pass or fail.  When that process is complete we have been told we will receive a letter from DHR telling us the outcome.  Of course we do not expect any problems.  Although, there was that one time...

This is an important development because it is in this step that many people encounter delays.  One horror story we heard said it took more than a year for one person's prints to be approved and in SEVERAL other cases they have been lost in the system but nobody knew until they had waited for an inordinate amount of time (like, it would appear, what Mike was about to experience).

Praise God!

One more little step on our long and patience-learning journey toward parenthood.

Keep praying!

2nd Home Visit

Hi!  We just had our second (and last) home visit.  Things went great!  Katey liked the bunk beds we got for our boys.  She told us that she'd take about 2-3 weeks to get our write-up to APAC.  Someone at APAC will read our stuff and send it on to the state.  That could take a week - it could take 4 - it all depends on how many studies are in before ours.  After APAC sends the study on, it goes to State DHR - then, who knows how long it could take before it gets approved ~ we're still waiting on our fingerprints ~ and then we wait for a phone call.

It is a lot of waiting now.  Waiting and praying.

But it's all in God's time.  We trust Him, so we're not worried.  Mike and I have a real peace about all of this.  We know that God has planned for us to have those kids from before we were born - let alone before they were born - so we're just letting His plan unfold.

Thank you for praying for us in this!  Pray for our kids!!

How Long 'til You Get the Kids?

This is our most frequently asked question..."How long?  When will you get the kids?"

We really don't know when.  We have our second Home Visit May 3rd.  Then, we wait.  Our Social Worker will write up "us" and then submit it to APAC - the organization through which we took GPS.  Next, after APAC makes sure all our paperwork is in order (like the fingerprint report we're still waiting on), APAC will send it on to Alabama DHR.  Then, DHR will read it, send it to one of several adoption consultants who will read it and look for a match between us and children who are waiting to be adopted.

It could take a while.

After we are matched, we'lll be called and given some information about the kids.  We can ask for more info about them and start the process of maybe getting to meet them, or we can say no.  Saying no will not diminish our chances of adopting.  We'll then wait for another call about children waiting to be adopted.

We'll keep you posted!!!