Post by Kim on Jun 4, 2007 16:27:51 GMT 10
I thought this might be a very useful topic, as those people who are currently or have already done adoption / permanent care are able to give hints or tips about what made things easier for them along the way, so people months or even years from now will be able to get a load of advice to help them out And hopefully not get as stressed as some of us who dont currently have any tips or hints
1) Always make photocopies of all your paperwork before you send it off, as that way you have a copy for your own records and years from now you can look back at what you had to do, plus if paperwork gets lost in the post you have a copy to send to your service.
2) Always find out when social workers/duty workers are in the office and are normally available to answer questions, as that way you dont have to wait days before you get a return call.
3) Make sure that your referees dont have anything stressful going on in their own lives that may mean they dont send a reference for you quickly - when going through ICA one of ours had stuff going on and it took her over a month to send back her reference letter.
4) Sometimes it pays to send your paperwork or certain parts of it by registered mail - we had to do that for ICA when some of the mail we sent never got to them - If you do send it registered mail, dont address the outer registered mail envelope to any one person as that way anyone in the office can accept the mail and when its opened the letter or envelope inside can be addressed to the person it needs to be.
5) You can set up a nursery or buy baby stuff even if you dont know the age or sex of your baby, as anything you buy that is wrong you can resell on ebay and make a little money back, so its not a complete waste.
6) If you do want to buy baby stuff, check out ebay, as you can get some really good quality stuff much cheaper than brand new, which is really good when you are not sure of the babies age or sex is going to be and you can get some unused / new stuff for half the price.
1) Always make photocopies of all your paperwork before you send it off, as that way you have a copy for your own records and years from now you can look back at what you had to do, plus if paperwork gets lost in the post you have a copy to send to your service.
2) Always find out when social workers/duty workers are in the office and are normally available to answer questions, as that way you dont have to wait days before you get a return call.
3) Make sure that your referees dont have anything stressful going on in their own lives that may mean they dont send a reference for you quickly - when going through ICA one of ours had stuff going on and it took her over a month to send back her reference letter.
4) Sometimes it pays to send your paperwork or certain parts of it by registered mail - we had to do that for ICA when some of the mail we sent never got to them - If you do send it registered mail, dont address the outer registered mail envelope to any one person as that way anyone in the office can accept the mail and when its opened the letter or envelope inside can be addressed to the person it needs to be.
5) You can set up a nursery or buy baby stuff even if you dont know the age or sex of your baby, as anything you buy that is wrong you can resell on ebay and make a little money back, so its not a complete waste.
6) If you do want to buy baby stuff, check out ebay, as you can get some really good quality stuff much cheaper than brand new, which is really good when you are not sure of the babies age or sex is going to be and you can get some unused / new stuff for half the price.