How is the adoption going? Have you heard anything yet? Have you met the child you are going to adopt? How long does it take?
So many people ask us these questions, so I thought it would be good to lay it all out here. This is not a quick and easy process; it takes a lot of time and a lot of work. Please keep in mind, also, that this process is actually quicker and easier for people who want to adopt older children, like us!
This is an overview of the adoption process in our area, as we are going through it. I’m going to start with the orientation and the MAPP class, and continue with the rest of the process in my next couple posts.
Orientation
We didn’t actually attend an orientation. I know they have changed the process some, so this could be a new addition. The purpose of the orientation is to provide you with more information about adoption, or about fostering if that is what you are interested in pursuing, and give you an opportunity to decide if it is something you are truly interested in doing.
Seeing as how we recently found out that nobody in our MAPP class ended up fostering or adopting, maybe adding an orientation in the beginning is a good idea!! A chance to really consider what you’re in for and whether you really want to do this before you invest a lot of time into it.
MAPP Classes
The MAPP Classes, or Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting, is a 10 week class where you learn all about foster care and adoption in detail, how the process works, and what to expect. You learn about the types of children you will find in the system, the reasons children come into care, the problems they typically have, how to help them adjust, and also how to help them stay connected to and remember their history and where they came from. You also learn about the life book, the importance of creating one, and how to go about doing so.
In our MAPP class there were games and activities designed to give you a better feel for what the children in the system are going through, the emotions they are likely experiencing, and the thoughts they might be thinking when being removed from their birth home and while moving from placement to placement.
When we attended MAPP, there was only one version of the class. Since then they have changed the class so that there are now separate classes for foster parenting vs. adopting. We actually considered fostering, and we decided to take the course before we had decided which direction we wanted to go. The information in the course helped us to make that decision, so I’m glad there was only one class when we took it! There were many reasons we opted not to foster, I’ll save that for another post, though!
And that’s how it starts… that covers the beginning of our journey; orientation, and then MAPP. Our experience with the home study process was much more involved than this, and I will cover that part of the process in my next post.