Filing Notes: What Are All These Papers For?

Hello there!  My name is Sue Young and I am the Office Manager here at Adoption ARC.  I have been a part of the agency for the past three years, as a volunteer for the first year and subsequently as the Office Manager.  I just wanted to write a short note about all of the paperwork we need to make your file complete.
So you've decided to adopt.  What next?  Well, if you decide to adopt through Adoption ARC there is a checklist of documents we require for our files.  The following documents are required regardless of whether or not we are performing your homestudy, or if it is done by a social worker outside of our agency. The homestudy is a requirement of the state.  Your homestudy will either prove or disprove the eligibility of your family to adopt a child.   All of the documents mentioned are also used to help your social worker write your homestudy.
To start, we require child abuse and criminal clearances on everyone in your household who is 18 years of age or older.  These documents are required to ensure the safety of all involved.  Medical reports apply to everybody living within your household.  This is to make sure that there are no communicable diseases present in your home and that it is a medically safe environment for a child to enter.
Next we'll need your most recent tax return(s), employment verification(s), proof of life insurance and proof of health insurance.  These documents are required to prove that you have an adequate source of income and are prepared to not only take on the emotional needs of but also provide for the financial needs of a child.  In order to obtain a well-rounded idea of who you are we require at least three reference letters to vouch for you as a potential adoptive family; none of which can be family members.  At least one of your references should be from someone who has known you for at least five years.  A second reference should be a neighbor and the third can be someone of your choice, keeping in mind that the person(s) cannot be a family member.  Copies of your birth certificate(s) and/or passport(s) are required to authenticate your date of birth.  These documents are also required of anyone within your household to certify their date of birth and citizenship.  If you are married we require a copy of your marriage license to prove in fact that you are legally married.  If there has been a divorce we also require a copy of your divorce decree so that your ex-spouse would not be financially responsible for your future child.  If at one point you had a child or children in your home that passed away, we also require a copy of the death certificate(s).  The reason we ask for is information is for legal documentation as to the circumstances surrounding the death.
If you are a prospective transracial adoptive family, (meaning that you are planning on adopting a child that is of a race different from your own) we require that you answer our transracial questionnaire.  This questionnaire gives us an idea of your thoughts on adopting outside of your culture.  It also indicates how much transracial training may be needed from us and/or your social worker in order to make this transition as smooth as possible. 
Last, but most certainly not the least important is the "Dear Birth Mother" Letter.  We ask that you write a one-page letter to the birth families and create a small photo album (or what we refer to as your profile) displaying your family life.  The profile and letter are extremely important as most of our birth families opt to choose which family their child will be placed with.  The "Dear Birth Mother" Letter and profile is your chance to make a good impression as birth families carefully consider our adoptive families.  I hope this has been helpful in giving you some insight into why we need each of these personal and confidential documents from you.

Why Picture & Letter Updates?

     We understand that updates aren't the easiest thing in the world to sit down and write.  Especially when you're updating your child's birth family on the progression of the child they've entrusted into your care to raise and love on a daily basis for life.  You may ask yourself, "What do I say?  How do I say it?"  Well, for starters, there are always the stats: height, weight, sleeping patterns, likes, dislikes, temperament, accomplishments, etc..
The most important thing is just writing the update and gathering a handful or two of pictures to put in an envelope and send off to us so that we can forward them to the birth family.  We require all of our adoptive families to send us hard copies of pictures and letter updates by regular mail every 3 months for the first two years, and then annually every year after that until the child is 18 for our own records.  Occasionally the Birth Parents may not want to receive the updates initially.  However, Birth Parents may change their mind in the future and wish to see how the child is doing.  In that case, if you have been sending them in as agreed, we will have the updates on file for them to have.  This happens every year: a birth parent that we haven't heard from in two, four, five or eight years will call us out of the blue and ask if there are any pictures and letters waiting here for them of the child they placed 'x' number of years ago.  Sometimes there are, but sometimes there are not.  It's a great feeling to be able to tell them that, "Yes, there are pictures and letters here that have just been waiting for you to call and ask for them."  On the other hand, when there aren't pictures waiting for them, or we have to remind adoptive families to send the updates in every time they're due, it becomes stressful and tedious for all involved.  So the next time your child reaches a milestone please, take a picture and set aside a copy for his or her birth family to enjoy as well.  You will be giving someone a great sense of peace.  Happy Updating!!
be able to tell them that, "Yes, there are pictures and letters here that have just been waiting for you to call and ask for them."  On the other hand, when there aren't pictures waiting for them, or we have to remind adoptive families to send the updates in every time they're due, it becomes stressful and tedious for all involved.  So the next time your child reaches a milestone please, take a picture and set aside a copy for his or her birth family to enjoy as well.  You will be giving someone a great sense of peace.  Happy Updating!!

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