Match Meetings

When children come into foster care, there are procedures and laws that professionals must follow.   Immediately they are placed with a foster family (or if a relative is available to parent the child,MIT is called a kinship placement). If CPS realizes that the child is probably not going to be reunified with his birth parents (usually because the birth parents are not doing everything their caseworker has asked them to do, like finding a job, taking parenting classes, and staying clean) to name a few common requirements), they will begin looking at other options. If parents rights are terminated, CPS is required to look at other family members who may be able to adopt the child. If there is no family willing or able, they ask the foster parent usually if they will adopt. In some situations, the foster parent is also not willing or able to adopt the child. Many foster parents are older and have already raised children, so they do not want to parent a young child for that long. This is the case where the child would be presented at a match meeting to be matched with a foster family who is looking to adopt.

In the match meeting, several families are considered for the child. The licensing workers of each family go to a meeting with the caseworker and present their families. We prepared a scrapbook for this purpose before we were licensed. This book highlights our families, our home, our interests, and our routine. And our licensing worker's job is to highlight all of our awesome qualities. The caseworker then chooses the family who she thinks would be most fitting. Some caseworkers choose based on their priority of education or physical health, and others choose based on the other children in the home. It all depends on the caseworker.

I am highlighting this post because we will be presented at a match meeting this week. It is a very exciting and nerve-wracking experience, and very different than our experience with Cuddle Bug. I will be writing another post very soon with more details about what happens after the match meeting. In the meantime, we could use lots of positive thoughts and prayers.