The Envelope Part II

So as I had mentioned in the last post the envelope was full of papers. The second pile is all the things Jeff and I have to deal with and Vickie is blessed to not be a part of. Does this mean she is done no but for now she can relax.

So what does the second pile consist of? Oh piles and piles of papers for us to fill out. To start with we have all the legal forms. These forms are all the ones that protect us the adoptive parents, them the agency, and also the expecting parents (birthparents) & the future child. We are not surprised by the legal forms actually we expected to be signing our lives away. So below I will list and give a brief description.

1. Policy Birthparents Assistance- This form explains the policy that the agency has with the birthparents on financial assistance. NJ State Law is very strict on what can and can not be paid for and this pretty much explains what the agency can and can't' pay for and who makes the determination on what is covered. None of this comes from us the adoptive parents.
2. Adoption Release and Consent Form- In this form we state that we are interested in coming into contract with the agency and that we understand the impact adoption will have on us emotionally and financially.
3. Information to Parents and Adoptive Applicants- This is the form that states the laws about what NJ requires the agency to provide to us and the birthparents.
4. Client Grievance Procedure- Pretty straight forward this tells us what happens if we are unhappy with a decision and what we can do about it!
5. Notice of Privacy Practices for Client Confidential Information- Think of this like your HHIPA form you sign at the doctors.
6. Parental Discipline Policy- In this packet it states that the agency doesn't condone child abuse and what NJ considers abuse. If at any point between now and the final home inspection we show signs of abuse we know we will lose custody.
7. Post-Placement Agreement- The final legal form is were we agree that we will follow the law of having the state required amount of home study visits once placement has happen before the final court appearance to complete the adoption.

The next grouping of papers I would like to call the who are we, who influenced us, and who will influence our child. This is the packet that helps our social worker learn all about us, our family, and our friends. Once again I'm going to list it!

• Guardianship Plans- We have to decide now who will take custody of our child and we have to follow their requirements in picking. Why because they want to know that if something happens to us our child will be with people who are happy, healthy and able to take care of them.
• Autobiography- Yes we have to write a report about ourselves. It has to talk about our childhood, our families, and our friends. We also have to talk about our lives now and that wonderful person we are on this journey with.
• Self Study- We get to talk more about ourselves! This is a 5 page packet that full of questions about personality, childhood, marriage, and our future child.
• Family History- This is when they get to find out about our parents and siblings. We have to talk medical and brief family overviews.
• Adoptive Family and Wants- this is a big packet were our Winnie finally comes up. There is also the service plan where we answer questions on what we are looking for in a birthparent and child. The list of questions is long but things like family medical history of the birthparents are included and what gender we want. (we want a baby any gender any race).
• Certificate of Financial Statement- Pretty much they want to know what we are worth. Its very simple how much money do we have, what do we make, and what do we have in assets.

The final form is the first of our education requirements. This is the preparation of families adopting domestic children. What is that you ask? Its a list of books that they want to chose from. Our Social worker check 4 books to chose from one being required. In total we have to read 3 books and have discussions with her about all of them. Jeff and I have chosen to read all 4 books that she suggests because we found all of them interesting. I will blog about the books in the future. But for now I must go and work on the piles. Bye!