I sat down the other night to start reading through the information we received in the mail regarding the foster care adoption program in our State. Thank goodness I read through the whole thing, because I discovered that we can’t even go to the informational meeting unless we bring all the completed paperwork with us — including fingerprint cards for both of us. Apparently, they really want to make sure people are genuinely interested in the process before even giving out any more information about it.
I filled out as much paperwork as I could on my own, which left everything except my husband’s signatures. The State of Iowa also requires anyone in the house over the age of 14 (which would be two of my children) sign an authorization for a Criminal Background Check as well as an authorization to run them through the Child Abuse Registry in the state of Iowa. Caitlyn was more than willing to sign, but Cameron was a little more hesitant. He wanted to make sure that: #1– he wasn’t going to get poked with any needles, and #2– we weren’t going to stick him with yet another little sister.
Apparently, three is enough for him.
All that was left at this point was the fingerprint cards. I followed the instructions we were given, chose the location we could go to in our County (ours happens to be the Dallas County JAIL), and called ahead to make sure the details they gave on the paperwork was correct. We were pleased to discover that instead of the 8am-4pm schedule that was printed in the book, Dallas County now does fingerprints any time day or night. So… no using vacation time to make it to the jail by 4pm– SCORE!
Tuesday night, we decided to get the fingerprint cards done and out of the way. We headed over to the jail, and scurried inside, hoping no one in the small town would see us walking into the jail with our 9-year old in tow. We got in, stated our purpose for being there, then we each took turns paying our $10 and getting ink all over our fingers.
I had never been inside of the jail before, and I have to admit, it was a little intimidating! Getting fingerprinted may not seem like a big deal, but to us it was a milestone. It was an item to check off our list on the path to adding a child to our family. It was the first thing we have done in this process that required something more than sitting at my kitchen table filling out a piece of paper.
Now we wait. Wait until January 30th, the day of the informational meeting. I feel like we have done so much research and reading on how this will all work, that an informational meeting (especially a 2-hour one) seems redundant. I know that it’s just all part of the process.
As of today, our family does not know about this. Other than our kids, the only people that know we’re beginning this process is YOU in the internet world. We decided it was most important to talk to our kids first, and once we’ve gone to the meeting and have all the information on the table, then we will talk to our family.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed and praying that they will all be on board with this idea. Because any opposition to our plan is going to really take the wind out of my sails.
