Anyone who’s been through an adoption, knows that the process is painfully slow. In Michigan, where we live, the superintendent of the Michigan Children’s Institute is the only person authorized to approve adoptions for children in foster care. The state senate has introduced a bill that would allow the superintendent to authorize a designee to provide written consent to adoptions.
The Michigan Department of Human Services issued a press release about this. In the release, DHS says that the superintendent received 1,100 cases for approval in the last year. We were one of those cases, and when our social worker submitted our case, we really had no idea how long it would take to get approval. It was frustrating that we couldn’t even be given an estimate. As our social worker explained, it was all due to the fact that the superintendent is currently the only person with approval power. This bill seems like an improvement and I’ll keep following its status. If you’ve adopted through foster care in a different state, could you share what the laws are like there?
The DHS press release also stated that in Michigan there are currently 4,150 children in foster care who are available for adoption. Please consider taking a minute to visit the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange (or your own state’s adoption resource exchange). Once you see the photos and read the stories, you may consider adding to your own family too!
Shannon Mackie 