A New Avenue

In our search for our missing child we have decided to add Foster Care to our list of ways to find the child that is meant for our family. We know a handful of friends who have used foster care and have been successful. So why not give it a try.

Hallie had thought of Foster Care before our trip to California but we put off pushing adoption until we got home. So Monday she geared up, got the address from the Internet and away she went. Until about 5 min in the car she realized it was a holiday and they would not be open. She turned around and came back home. Try tomorrow.

So from now on we are going to chronicle our experiences with the Michigan Department of Human Services.

Here is our first two experiences.

1. Tuesday Hallie set out again to the address listed on the Internet. She went into the DHS office that was quite large and full of people in chairs. Then there was a line to get in just to ask questions or so I assumed. So there Landon and I stood. It moved quick and he was rather well behaved. We got to the desk and asked what to do if we want to Foster to Adopt and the lady said, "I don't know what you are talking about." I know I had the address right and everything. Thank goodness the lady next to her and some sort of idea what I was talking about and gave her two phone numbers in which she passed on to me. I said thanks and headed out to the car. Once in the car I tried both of the numbers one of which did not work. The other I punched in all of the numbers in the menu choice and got to a part where I could leave a message and was told a packet would be sent to me as soon as possible. So I left my message, started the car and we headed home. That was the end of Tuesday.
2. Thursday afternoon I received a phone call from a nice woman from DHS. We chatted for a few minutes and she told me that we need to attend an orientation class that will be about 3 1/2 hours long. At the orientation we will be given the forms to start working on and if we have 3 references we can bring them then. We then have to go through Phases 1 and 2 which are several days each.

So here it is the beginnings of this journey. I am kind of happy to see where this takes us and I pray that whatever comes it will be what Heavenly Father has in store for us.