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Approved!! Now what?

Woohoo! Finally letting myself believe it! 

Today i got the confirmation that the Agency Decision Maker (ADM) has approved me! 14th June 2022.

I was so happy when i saw the first draft of my PAR with the social worker words ' i recommend for approval' (5th May). I was cautiously excited when my panel of eight people unanimously agreed to 'recommend me for approval' (26th May), but I'm someone who likes to keep that full excitement until things are definite. I knew that the ADM can ask questions and whilst it's very unlikely for them to give a different decision to the panel recommendation, but i also knew that I wasn't just looking for the yes/no, i was looking for the approval to adopt siblings.

What's next?

I've been able to make a start on my Linkmaker profile - Linkmaker is the family finding website. Adopters and children both have profiles and there's the option to express interest if you think they'd be a match with you / if the social worker or family finder thinks you might be a match. 

I attend family finding events - I've already attended one in fact! This first one was an hour as a virtual event. We went round everyone to do their introductions, then for each child/sibling pair there was a video, the social worker explaining about their interests, their personalities, their health, background and support. We then were given the opportunity to ask any questions, before moving on to the next profile. We covered four in that hour. 

There are quite a few different types of family finding events and in parallel with events then the social worker and family finders at my agency will work together and may send through profiles directly.

What else?

I still have more training to do. I have siblings training in a couple of weeks. There's a post approval information session for me to attend. I'll have a visit or videocall next week to talk it thorough with my social worker.

I'm continuing to read through adoption and therapeutic parenting books, listening to podcasts and tracking down relevant bits to watch! This will be useful when the time comes, but it also helps to differentiate me when my profile is being reviewed by the relevant people.

It probably will take a while to find my match, it may take months or more. Once i find my match and we get agreed we'd have a couple of months of introductions before they'd be in. So stay tuned, there is a little way to go yet on this journey. In the meantime though, it's moving forward and tonight, I am celebrating being approved to be an adopter! :) 



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