Adoption Match Meeting
We attended our first adoption match meeting last Friday evening January 21st. We entered a room and it had 10 - 12 large round tables that each sat about 8 people. I think there were around 40 - 50 that were hoping to adopt. The caseworkers put ONE binder in the middle of each table. The binder was a simple black 3 hole binder that had maybe 20 sheets that were each protected in their own plastic covering. On one side of the sheet was multiple pictures of the child / sibling group and on the other were likes and dislikes of each child.
I had never seen these children on the websites I was instructed to search children for, so that was refreshing. But a lot of the binders were duplicates of other binders. We found one child we were interested in and have sent in our homestudy. Let's call him "A" and he is 5 years old :). We decided to inquire with his caseworker, who was there, and we were at a table with another couple and a single guy who were all inquiring on the same child. So we decided to have kind of....an open forum. The caseworker asked us to ask questions and she would answer anything. Some questions I asked were:
1. How old was he when he was removed from the home
2. How many different homes has he been in
3. Does he have any siblings
4. Is he taking any medications
5. Does he have contact with these siblings
6. Does he have any special needs and/or therapy
I was a little bit more....okay A LOT more prepared than the other interested parties. And I think it's because we have inquired on at least 5-8 different children / sibling groups. So when we inquire and the child's caseworker decides we may be a possible match, they then send a VERY detailed description of the child's needs and history. Every time one of those inquiries didn't work out...I got more and more bummed. But as I'm writing.....if I had not been through those experiences....I would have not known what to ask and what I should be asking in the future. Hmm :)
So we shall see if we will get additional information. <-- I'll make sure to follow up on A.
All in all....I think it was a great experience. We met some really nice couples that we hope to keep in touch with. It's nice to talk to family and friends about our experiences....BUT.....they will NEVER truly understand what this feels like. So it's nice to connect with others that are in your same position.
We have our next match meeting next Saturday, but at this one there will be 100+ children who are ages 8 and older.
At this point...I am only considering children from match meetings and broadcasts that my caseworker sends me. I used to search on line EVERY. DAY. but that just gets too overwhelming. PLUS there are a lot of older children online and we are only licensed for children up to 8 years old
P.S. - I started on my diet this morning...by lunch I gave up. I WILL start on Monday....promise! LOL
I had never seen these children on the websites I was instructed to search children for, so that was refreshing. But a lot of the binders were duplicates of other binders. We found one child we were interested in and have sent in our homestudy. Let's call him "A" and he is 5 years old :). We decided to inquire with his caseworker, who was there, and we were at a table with another couple and a single guy who were all inquiring on the same child. So we decided to have kind of....an open forum. The caseworker asked us to ask questions and she would answer anything. Some questions I asked were:
1. How old was he when he was removed from the home
2. How many different homes has he been in
3. Does he have any siblings
4. Is he taking any medications
5. Does he have contact with these siblings
6. Does he have any special needs and/or therapy
I was a little bit more....okay A LOT more prepared than the other interested parties. And I think it's because we have inquired on at least 5-8 different children / sibling groups. So when we inquire and the child's caseworker decides we may be a possible match, they then send a VERY detailed description of the child's needs and history. Every time one of those inquiries didn't work out...I got more and more bummed. But as I'm writing.....if I had not been through those experiences....I would have not known what to ask and what I should be asking in the future. Hmm :)
So we shall see if we will get additional information. <-- I'll make sure to follow up on A.
All in all....I think it was a great experience. We met some really nice couples that we hope to keep in touch with. It's nice to talk to family and friends about our experiences....BUT.....they will NEVER truly understand what this feels like. So it's nice to connect with others that are in your same position.
We have our next match meeting next Saturday, but at this one there will be 100+ children who are ages 8 and older.
At this point...I am only considering children from match meetings and broadcasts that my caseworker sends me. I used to search on line EVERY. DAY. but that just gets too overwhelming. PLUS there are a lot of older children online and we are only licensed for children up to 8 years old
P.S. - I started on my diet this morning...by lunch I gave up. I WILL start on Monday....promise! LOL
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