Summer School - August 1st

     Those of you who are teachers will probably agree with me that the school classroom is one of the best places to be. It's a small community of people with roughly the same focus, goals and tasks, it's informative and fun too. There is a relaxedness (word?) that takes place in that type of learning environment and that is what our 4 day adoption training felt like. It was a step into the classroom at times a primary room with bubbles, playdough and games, or like a high school room with lectures, q/a along with group discussions.

     There were 20 some people on the course all brimming with excitement over the prospects of being adopters. Of course at first there was the quiet anticipation of 'how is this going to work' 'are the presenters qualified or capable' and ' who is sitting across the room from me?' These are the same types of thoughts that go through anyone's mind when begin a new course for attend a conference. All of these questions were answered very quickly as good teachers and presenters do the aims, format of the days were laid out along with short intros from all speakers/attenders. The brief intros showed that there were doctors, teachers, IT guys, NHS workers, artists and many other professions present among the group, the largest one to date for a 4 day training.
     So not to bore you with loads of detail (those of you who are interested simply ask) here is a listing of some of the topics that we covered; overview of the process, dealing with loss, theraplay, developmental trauma, how or why a child is removed from the home and a plethora of other discussions, conversations and learning experiences. We heard from many social workers, a couple of adoptive mothers, a mother who gave up a child and also the lead manager from the agency. Sometimes when you hear from the 'top dog' it is not all that informative or interesting, it's sort of like they are they because they have to not because they want to. This short encounter was totally different!
     Firstly he gave a friendly intro to himself and then encouraged us all by stating that we were there, at that particular training because we were invited. We would not have been sitting there if it wasn't felt that we could do the job of being adopters. He assured us that 97% of prospective adopters are approved nationally and even higher with our agency. The horror stories of the process taking years are becoming less frequently heard as the aim is to approve within 3-6 months and a child/children placed within another 3-6 months. The 3's are goals not unhittable (word? surprised it's not, will use it anyway) targets, they are the plan, the road to adopting in this country is proving to be paved and moving ahead swiftly. It's so good to be affirmed for where you are presently and encouraged for where you are headed.

     One other nugget he shared with the group was that everyone had been matched with a social worker and we'd met them during the training. We had opportunity to meet ours on Tuesday and to set the first date of many for our home-study process. We were just a bit shocked when our first meeting was planned for this Tuesday the 6th of August! Ya we have to move later in the month but that is not stopping the process moving forward, we don't have our visa in hand yet but that also is not stopping it either. So we'll sit down with her on Tuesday, and from there will map out the remainder of our meetings and even set a date for our panel, more to come on that at a later date. All to say we are amped, moving forward, feeling empowered and in the right place at the right time.