Switching Agencies but already have a placement
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Anonymous
| Fostering to adopt process is underway. I really do not like our agency (doesn't return calls, unhelpful, etc) and I would like to switch to another agency. I have a placement in home. The goal has been switched from reunification to adoption, but I think it will take awhile for the process to go through. Can I switch agencies in this situation? |
Anonymous
| The child is placed through the agency so if you have a child, you probably cannot switch agencies. You can talk to the government agency if there is a government worker involved. Or, ask for a different social worker. |
Anonymous
Just out of interest, how old is the child, how long has he/she been in foster care and who/how do they determine the switch to adoption as a goal? |
Anonymous
7 years old, 2 yrs. I'm not going to give out personal details on my child. They determine a switch when it is in the best interest of the child to be adopted and not to be reunited. Parents aren't working the plan, parent shows they are unable to care for them, no show at classes/visits/testing. etc |
Anonymous
Why does this matter? |
Anonymous
|
BTDT more than once. OP, thing is as time goes on everyone gets dissatisfied with their agency. The process is unbelievably frustrating and there will always be things that make you unhappy about your agency. Changing isn’t likely to make a difference.
I changed agencies during one adoption. It was possible but expensive. I lost my fees from the first agency and had to pay everything including a social work eval from the second. I don’t regret it - the first agency couldn’t accomplish our goals so we had to move. |
Anonymous
Curious to know what goes on behind the scenes. What criteria they use to determine that family should not be reunited, how much power do they have. What if errors are made during the process. Does the family have any rights after the decision to switch has been made |
Anonymous
there are lots of opportunities for the parents to share their side of the story and they are provided attorneys. A judge makes the decision to terminate rights and there is an appeals process. Takng away someone's right to parent is treated at least as seriously as convicting someone of a crime. This is generally good--it SHOULD be hard to separate children from their parents--but the process can be long. Some counties and states are much more pro-reunification and others are more pro-termination and adoption. And the pendulum swings, usually after a horrible case where a child is murdered by his or her biological or adoptive parents. |
Anonymous
Google foster care/adoption and see the rules. There is no straight answer for each child and family. Until the TPR is final, the adoption goal can change back to reunification and reunification still can occur. The foster-adopt families technically have no rights. |