Case Worker Update

I called and talked to the kids' actual case worker. Ironically, her name is Brandi :) I had her Boss as a contact, and when I called about the kids she told me the case worker was standing in her office. Both ladies were AWESOME and answered as many of my questions as they could. They also said I could bug them as much as I wanted which was very naive of them :) The main question they couldn't/wouldn't answer was where the kids' parents were. I really wanted to know if they were in jail... but they said I couldn't find out details like that until we were licensed, which is reasonable. Oh, and no one else is interested in them so far.

So let's start with the good stuff... all the kids are doing well in school. S, the 4 year old, is in preschool and doing well. All kids have good behavior and "take responsibility for their actions". I asked why the younger were separated from the oldest. The supervisor told me that she honestly didn't remember, but that she was sure it was because they couldn't find a home to take all three. The caseworker said that all three kids were agreeable to the idea of being adopted.

Some "bad" stuff: All three are on ADHD medicine. I didn't say anything to the social workers, but I figure if I was in foster care I'd need meds to help me concentrate too! Having a 4 year old on ADHD meds seems a little ridiculous to me, however these are not normal circumstances. Hopefully being in a stable home will help them come off of these drugs. It is my personal opinion that ADD and ADHD are way over diagnosed in children and that any behavior that warrants such a diagnosis is a consequence of too much TV and other stimuli. However, that is only my unprofessional, non-parental opinion! But I am not going to worry about it, at least they are not on antidepressants or anything like that.

D, the oldest is in therapy, which will probably need to continue. I'm thinking he will have a hard time moving schools again. More to pray about!

Okay. So now we finish the classes and the home study. After we are licensed, our case worker will contact the kids' caseworker. Some special "meeting" will take place to decide if we are good candidates for the kids. If that is a go, the kids' caseworker will send our caseworker the kids' files to go over with us. If we are still interested, we'll ALL have a big meeting: both caseworkers, both foster parents, D's therapist and a few others. At this point we can ask even more questions about the kids. If we are STILL interested, visits will begin. The first couple will involve us going to Houston. They will take place in the foster homes and give us an opportunity to see the kids in a comfortable environment. After that we can take them out, and eventually work up to an overnight visit. The cool thing about that is that CPS will bring the kids to us. Excellent! Then eventually we all agree we like each other, they come stay with us and 60 days later the adoption is finalized.