FAQ - frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Inquiring on Waiting Children
Why aren't the children's challenges detailed in the profiles?
The kids are so computer-savvy these days, they visit the website and read their own profiles! And their friends read them. Sometimes their acquaintances' parents read them and discuss them with their own children. The child's issues could become common knowledge at school and the child may be mortified and deeply hurt. We don't want to do anything that would cause any further trauma. So now we depend on the caseworkers to share the challenges with selected families who have inquired . We have lost some of the ability of the prospective parents to self-screen, but families agree with us that we don't want to do anything that will embarrass the children unnecessarily.
Who will respond to my inquiry?
Your inquiry will be received by the office at The Adoption Exchange. Within 48 hours (except weekends) it will be forwarded on to the child's caseworker in the child's county. Our agreement with the caseworkers is that they will respond to you within 30 days or less. Sometimes they will email you, sometimes they will phone you.
Why haven't I heard from anyone?
We do hear occasionally that caseworkers sometimes aren't responsive to inquiries, especially if the family is not homestudied. We now tell families to let us know if 30 days have passed without a response, as we always are anxious to contact the caseworker to find out what happened. Call us or email us.
Do caseworkers ever consider an out-of-state family?
Yes, caseworkers sometimes place children out of state. They will often prefer to keep the child near his/her community, because most children have relationships they want to maintain (with biological siblings, former foster parents, friends, therapists, teachers). But if a suitable family is not available nearby, they will consider one from out of state. Sometimes the caseworker prefers an out-of-state family because the child's biological family lives in the same community and there might be problems. Sometimes an out-of-state family is such a great match for a certain child, the caseworker decides it is the best choice.
Should we send you our homestudy?
We actually do not collect homestudies, but we do keep a record of the information you've given us when you make an inquiry on a child. Sometimes we will search our database to find families who have indicated interest in certain types of children, and we will contact those families to discuss a specific child. After we forward your inquiry to the child's caseworker, it is she/he who might request your homestudy from you.
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