Category: Adoption

Our homestudy packet is hopefully on a UPS truck headed to Holt International as I write this.  Long story short our medical paperwork didn’t get completed until yesterday (Monday).  So, I left work early and hurried to pick it up and get it to UPS before 5:00. 

Homestudy Packet:

1.  Personal Data Information (these are long answer questions for the social worker)

2.  Financial Statement

3.  Medical Reports-get results and paperwork Nov. 21

4.  Directions and map to our home

5.  Statement of Insurance

6.  Authorization for Release of Information-Employment Verification release

7.  I600A form

8.  Parents in Process Adoption Preparation Classes-scheduled for Dec. 6-7 (our social worker still has not returned any of my calls, keep your fingers crossed these classes work out for us)

As far as we know the I600A doesn’t have to be completed until our social worker comes for our homestudy.  We still have not gotten verification from her on our PIP classes (Dec. 6-7).  Once our homestudy is complete we will send of our Dossier packet.  It is complete all except for the homestudy and I600A form.

Now we wait on our social worker to schedule our actual homestudy.  We are really hoping it is before Christmas, but that may be asking a little too much.  Considering I can’t get a phone call returned I’m guessing she is extremely busy.

Have a wonderful day!

1.            Photos

*6 reflect family life

*1 of us together

*1 of Randy

*1 of Me

*6-8 of the interior and exterior of our home

2.  Passport Photos

3.  Letter of Intent to Adopt

4.  Dossier Family Profile Summary Form

5.  Police Clearances

6.  Marriage Certificate

7.  Birth Certificates of Applicants

8.  Home study

9.  Health Examination

10.  Physical Assessment

11.  Psychological Assessment

12.  Employment Letter

13.  Financial Statement

17.  Taxes (most recent 1040 federal tax form)

18.  Bank Statement

19.  Copy of CIS Approval, or I171H

20.  Photocopies of Passports

21.  Resume

22.  Reference Declarations

23.  Post-Adoption Agreement

24.  Guardianship Designation

25.  Guardianship Statement

Below is what I have completed so far (they aren’t notarized, but we will do almost all the notarizing at one time):

1.            Photos

*6 reflect family life

*1 of us together

*1 of Randy

*1 of Me

*6-8 of the interior and exterior of our home

2.  Passport Photos

3.  Letter of Intent to Adopt

4.  Dossier Family Profile Summary Form

5.  Police Clearances

6.  Marriage Certificate

7.  Birth Certificates of Applicants

8.  Home study

9.  Health Examination-scheduled for Nov. 19th

10.  Physical Assessment-scheduled for Nov. 19th

11.  Psychological Assessment-scheduled for Nov. 19th

12.  Employment Letter

13.  Financial Statement

17.  Taxes (most recent 1040 federal tax form)

18.  Bank Statement/Bank Letter

19.  Copy of CIS Approval, or I171H

20.  Photocopies of Passports

21.  Resume

22.  Reference Declarations-still missing 1:4

23.  Post-Adoption Agreement

24.  Guardianship Designation

25.  Guardianship Statement

We also received the packet for our Homestudy.  Below is the checklist and our progress on it.

Initial Packet for Fingerprinting/Background Check:

1.  Fingerprinted at local police department

2.  Signed Information Release Waivers

3.  $49 check

Second Homestudy Packet:

1.  Personal Data Information (these are long answer questions for the social worker)

2.  Financial Statement

3.  Medical Reports-scheduled for Nov. 19

4.  Directions and map to our home

5.  Statement of Insurance

6.  Authorization for Release of Information-Employment Verification release

7.  I600A form

8.  Parents in Process Adoption Preparation Classes-scheduled for Dec. 6-7

A lot of these items just need to be notarized, we are waiting on someone to return them from us, or are waiting on our appointment times.  With the holidays creeping up on us I am very concerned we won’t get our homestudy done before Christmas like we had hoped, but who knows.

To our understanding the I600A and the PIP Classes don’t have to be completed in order to do our actual homestudy where the social worker visits our home.  So there is still hope we can have the social worker visit before the end of the year.

Holt International has received its license for adoption in Nepal.  This is a pilot program meaning we will be one of the first families to journey to Nepal for adoption since their laws have been revised.  It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.

Our medical exams are scheduled for Nov. 19th and our classes are schedule for Dec. 6-7.  We are hoping to be able to have our social work visit between the two, but not sure if this will be possible yet or not.  We are probably asking a little too much with the holidays, but a girl can dream, right?

Okay, so we didn’t get as much accomplished last night as I would have liked too, but our evenings are just too short.  We are mostly waiting on others to complete forms and mail back to us.  Our physical/health exam will hopefully be the last thing (possibly the I600A).  We hope to wrap up everything on our end over the weekend and get the pictures developed or copied next week.  Below is an updated list of what is complete or where we are at on things:

Dossier To-Do List:

1.  Photos

*6 reflect family life

*1 of us together

*1 of Randy

*1 of Me

*6-8 of the interior and exterior of our home

2.  Passport Photos

3.  Letter of Intent to Adopt

4.  Dossier Family Profile Summary Form

5.  Police Clearances

6.  Marriage Certificate

7.  Birth Certificates of Applicants

8.  Home study

9.  Health Examination

10.  Physical Assessment

11.  Psychological Assessment

12.  Employment Letter-waiting on information

13.  Financial Statement

14.  Taxes (most recent 1040 federal tax form)

15.  Bank Statement-will have to be done immediately before sending of dossier as it has to be current

16.  Copy of CIS Approval, or I171H-need more info from agency/social worker

17.  Photocopies of Passports

18.  Resume

19.  Reference Declarations-mailed yesterday

20.  Post-Adoption Agreement

21.  Guardianship Designation-we will go over this with family this weekend

22.  Guardianship Statement-we will go over this with family this weekend

 

 

1.            Photos

*6 reflect family life

*1 of us together

*1 of Randy

*1 of Me

*6-8 of the interior and exterior of our home

2.  Passport Photos

3.  Letter of Intent to Adopt

4.  Dossier Family Profile Summary Form

5.  Police Clearances

6.  Marriage Certificate

7.  Birth Certificates of Applicants

8.  Home study

9.  Health Examination

10.  Physical Assessment

11.  Psychological Assessment

12.  Employment Letter

13.  Financial Statement

17.  Taxes (most recent 1040 federal tax form)

18.  Bank Statement

19.  Copy of CIS Approval, or I171H

20.  Photocopies of Passports

21.  Resume

22.  Reference Declarations

23.  Post-Adoption Agreement

24.  Guardianship Designation

25.  Guardianship Statement

Below is what I have completed so far (they aren’t notarized, but we will do almost all the notarizing at one time):

1.            Photos

*6 reflect family life

*1 of us together

*1 of Randy

*1 of Me

*6-8 of the interior and exterior of our home

2.  Passport Photos

3.  Letter of Intent to Adopt

4.  Dossier Family Profile Summary Form

5.  Police Clearances

6.  Marriage Certificate

7.  Birth Certificates of Applicants

8.  Home study

9.  Health Examination-scheduled for Nov. 19th

10.  Physical Assessment-scheduled for Nov. 19th

11.  Psychological Assessment-scheduled for Nov. 19th

12.  Employment Letter

13.  Financial Statement

17.  Taxes (most recent 1040 federal tax form)

18.  Bank Statement

19.  Copy of CIS Approval, or I171H

20.  Photocopies of Passports

21.  Resume

22.  Reference Declarations-mailed

23.  Post-Adoption Agreement

24.  Guardianship Designation

25.  Guardianship Statement

We will hopefully have a lot more crossed off tomorrow.

I finally managed to find an M.D. to do our physical exams for our adoption.  It’s a new doctor for us, but they were really friendly and helpful, so hopefully it goes well.

Tonight we must sit down and fill out paperwork.  I sent off the forms to our references today, so with any luck at all they will get them back to us promptly.

Yesterday we received all the information we need to collect for our adoption in order have our home study (where the social worker comes to the house) completed.

 

This list is long, but manageable.  Thanksgiving is my goal which I think is reasonable.  The only thing that probably won’t be complete by then is the background check (I600A/I171H).

 

Let the collecting begin!

Randy and I have taken a leap of faith.  A couple of weeks ago we sent in our application for adoption.  We have been discussing this for over a year now.  It was a really difficult decision for us to make.  The economy is scary, life is scary, and eventually it just boiled down to having a little faith. 

Choosing an agency and choosing a country were one in the same.  We wanted an agency who worked in Kansas, but we also wanted certain elements from the program itself.  Our first country of choice was the ever popular China.  We new the wait time was long, but 4 years?  We considered an older child adoption from China, but some of the requirements were a little questionable for us.  I was and still am very drawn to Ethiopia.  I knew I wanted to adopt from a country with a great need, and Ethiopia definitely qualified.  Cambodia-closed, Vietnam-closed, Burma-impossible.  We went through them all, country by country.  We discussed all the rules, regulations, requirements, wait times.  We finally chose an agency, discussed all the countries most recent information and decided on Korea.  Whew, done…..wait, not done.  Pilot program for Nepal?  Hmmm, that sounds interesting.  Google…Nepal.  I had made my decision the minute the first site opened.  Now to convince my wonderful husband to once again change our plans.  The beauty of Korea (for Randy) was we didn’t have to travel there.  With all the livestock, I have no vacation, and he has minimal vacation, this was a big deal.  Three weeks in Nepal was going to take some doing, but in the end he agreed.  I called the agency, had our application changed, and last night received the phone call welcoming us to the Nepal program with Holt International. 

They stressed that this is a pilot program, there are many unknowns, and will we be up for the challenge.  I told the lady I hoped so.

Now we wait for our list of papers and forms to complete and return so we can schedule our homestudy.  We have already collected as much as we could ahead of time (birth certificates, marriage license, etc.).  We want to complete the homestudy as quickly as possible and all the paper work must be completed first.  So, this will be the focus as soon as we get the information  we need to begin.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!