Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us during our time of no communication with our agency!
As I've blogged before, Michael & I have grown increasingly anxious, frustrated and concerned over the length of time it has taken us to be assigned a case worker. We have been waiting for one since the end of May and were assured in mid-July that we were next in line...and now it's mid-September and we still hadn't received a call. In my last post, I wrote about how we had contacted the director of our agency in hopes that she might be able to provide some insight into our case. As of yesterday morning, she had not returned our phone calls or replied to our emails. Since we didn't hear from her, I sent one final email to our original recruiter to let him know of what we were feeling and to express our great concern over the director not contacting us. I informed him that we had contacted other agencies to discuss the possibility of transferring our file and that we had really hoped to avoid that.
About an hour later, we receive a phone call from the Director. Isn't that amazing how that happens? She called me first, but I was in a meeting at work, so I missed her call. She called Michael at work and missed him as well. I called her back and she was on the phone with Michael on his cell. He got off the phone with her and he called me to say that she would be calling me back on my work phone ~ great, except I wasn't at my desk. So, sure enough, I get back to my desk and see that she called and left me another message. At least she was being thorough! We played phone tag a few more times and we finally were able to connect yesterday evening.
The director apologized for the delay and went into a long explanation of why things had happened the way they had with good reasons and sad excuses ranging from being short staffed, over worked, family emergencies, changes in the law and within their organization this year, as well as a huge increase in interest to foster care and adoption (the one good reason I could find). She reassured us that our file was on her desk, that it had been reviewed, that nothing was wrong, except that we did have one more form that still needed to be completed. Without this form, a homestudy cannot be scheduled. WHAT? We have asked over and over and over again, if there was anything missing from our file, any more forms to fill out, etc....and we were told many times that everything was there and in order. Wrong. So, she emailed the form to us and asked that we complete it and get it back to her. I told her we'd get it to her as soon as possible. Once the form is received, our caseworker will be calling us. She said that she was working on "sooner, rather than later" and hopefully we'd be licensed in the next 2 - 3 weeks.
So, we opened up the attachment on the email and couldn't believe it....it was 12 pages long WITHOUT our answers! Are you kidding? She made it sound like it would be a really simple form to return. Indeed, that was definitely the wrong assumption. Not only is it 12 pages long, but both Michael & I have to complete one individually. Want to know the kicker of it? There's NOTHING new on this form. Nope! Not one new question! There are 12 pages of questions that we have been asked repeatedly and upon which the agency has in triplicate. However, it doesn't matter. It's a new regulation. We have to fill out the form and answer all the questions all over again. It would be nice if the questions were all "yes or no" or multiple choice or check a box, but they're not. It's essay form and they want as much information as possible. Thankfully, I have a copy of every form we've already filled out, so we should be able to copy and paste the answers.
Dealing with the state foster care system has definitely given me a real taste of red tape bureacracy! While it has been more than frustrating at times, I have to remind myself that these standards are high for the protection of the children. In the end, I know when our children are finally home with us, that everything we went through will all be worth it.
Check back soon for more updates :) Thanks for your prayers ~ keep 'em coming!
Now looks like this.....
