Foster Adoption Update

I’d hoped to have more to update by now, but things don’t always go as planned, so I’ll update as much as I can.

Last Monday’s meeting was fantastic. {If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this post first.} The children’s caseworker is very sweet. She is thorough and appears to be doing her best to give us a complete picture, no doom and gloom but not overly rosy, either. The foster parents are fabulous. They do not adopt, but they are good at what they do and they clearly care deeply about every child they foster.

We left the meeting with so much more information about the children than we had going in, and having the foster parents there to share from their experience with these kids for the past year and a half was invaluable.

Before we left, we had everything on the calendar, all the way up to the move-in date. Efficient, but a bit overwhelming. If all goes according to plan, the kids will move in by early March. {Paper bag to breathe in, anyone?}

Oh, my!

Then we waited to receive word on whether or not the judge issued a TPR: Termination of Parental Rights. Once the order came in, we would need to give an answer to whether or not we would move pursue the foster adoption of these children.

We were suppose to hear back about the judge’s order last Thursday, but the weekend came, and still no word. And then Monday was a government holiday, so still no word.

In the meantime, we went ahead and gave our answer:
Yes, we’d like to pursue this adoption.

Yesterday we learned that the judge hasn’t signed the order because it got lost in the shuffle of court busyness. So still, we wait. The DFCS director is making sure the order gets put back in front of the judge. We were going to meet the kids this coming weekend, but that has been postponed, probably until next weekend. It’s all still up in the air. This is so frustrating because, even if you take us out of the picture entirely, this has left everyone in limbo.

Even once the judge signs the order, this still won’t be a done deal. The children will be considered “legal risk” because even after parental rights are terminated, a relative may contest the judge’s order anytime in the following 30 days. If that happens, it will be a few months before a decision is made about whether they will be legally free for adoption, or whether they will return to a family member. Everyone involved in the case believes the kids will be released for adoption, but anything is possible.

We’re praying for the Lord’s will to be done in all of this, and we deeply appreciate everyone who has been praying for us and leaving words of encouragement in the comments. Please keep it up!