So we are hitting the 2yr mark

[fingerscrossed]

The end of January will bring us to the 2 year mark of trying to adopt through the "system", but it has felt like 5.

Hopefully 2009 will be our year!

[WalkingOnTheMoon]

Just offering some empathy, as a fellow hopeful adopter through CAS.   It is so different than waiting in line for China, even with all its uncertainty of lengthening wait times.  We really have no idea how long until that match and know that people who have been waiting a shorter time may have already been matched and others have been waiting much longer!

Best of wishes that 2009 will be your year (and even though I haven't been waiting quite as long, I'd like it to be mine, too )!

[stillpatientlywaiting]

fingerscrossed:  Ug, not an anniversary you want to celebrate, I'm sure.   When you say two years, do you mean since completing your homestudy?  Or does that include the homestudy process?  From the time we first made enquiries, it took us a little over 6 months to get into a PRIDE course, and then another 3-4 before our homestudy got started.  It was completed at the end of November and we are going to be meeting with the adoption coordinator this week.  So about 16 months after initial enquiry just to get on a list. It seems to me that if the government wants to encourage people to adopt domestically, they would provide the resources to make the process quicker.  But maybe it is just our local CAS??  I'm curious to know what others have experienced. 

[stillpatientlywaiting]

Oops, I just read your post on another thread and it looks like it took you about 8 months...

Still would be interested to hear from others.

[WalkingOnTheMoon]

stillpatientlywaiting:  I am anticipating that when all is said and done, my timeline will be quite similar to yours...about 16-18 months from initial enquiry until approval.  From what I've heard, this is quite an improvement over typical waits in the past, at least at my local CAS!

[fingerscrossed]

fingerscrossed:  Ug, not an anniversary you want to celebrate, I'm sure.   When you say two years, do you mean since completing your homestudy?  Or does that include the homestudy process?  From the time we first made enquiries, it took us a little over 6 months to get into a PRIDE course, and then another 3-4 before our homestudy got started.  It was completed at the end of November and we are going to be meeting with the adoption coordinator this week.  So about 16 months after initial enquiry just to get on a list. It seems to me that if the government wants to encourage people to adopt domestically, they would provide the resources to make the process quicker.  But maybe it is just our local CAS??  I'm curious to know what others have experienced. 

I'm a little fuzzy on the exact dates, but I think our timeline went something like this. Our initial enquiry was sometime in 2006.  We started filling out paper work in January 2007, began PRIDE in January 2008 and got our signed sealed an delivered approval in December 2008, despite getting a verbal approval much earlier. 

I'm not sure where you are, but I think that in Toronto, the wait comes down to a lack of staff/resources.

I have heard that in the GTA, things are much worse.  In Durahm, frends of our have been told that there is an 18 month waiting list for PRIDE.

[fingerscrossed]

Best of wishes that 2009 will be your year (and even though I haven't been waiting quite as long, I'd like it to be mine, too )!

Thank you. :)

I hope that 2009 brings us all an answer to our adoption dreams.

[Windthrow]

I have heard that in the GTA, things are much worse.  In Durahm, frends of our have been told that there is an 18 month waiting list for PRIDE.

I assume they know the can take the PRIDE privately as well...need to pay but if it chops 18 months off the wait.

[fingerscrossed]

I have heard that in the GTA, things are much worse.  In Durahm, frends of our have been told that there is an 18 month waiting list for PRIDE.

I assume they know the can take the PRIDE privately as well...need to pay but if it chops 18 months off the wait.

They do, but were told that taking private PRIDE does nothing to fast-track you when dealing with CAS.

[Windthrow]

I have heard that in the GTA, things are much worse.  In Durahm, frends of our have been told that there is an 18 month waiting list for PRIDE.

I assume they know the can take the PRIDE privately as well...need to pay but if it chops 18 months off the wait.

They do, but were told that taking private PRIDE does nothing to fast-track you when dealing with CAS.

Strange I was given a different impression by Pat Convery (director of the adoption council of Ontario) Last I spoke with her am pretty sure she said that if you get the training and homestudy done yourself they would take you on. It might be dependent on which CAS though and even more so on the type of child you are open to adopting. If they are unsure at all about what they are being told I would encourage them to talk to Pat directly. She really is quite willing to help people with this sort of thing and even talk to individual CAS's

[WalkingOnTheMoon]

I have heard that in the GTA, things are much worse.  In Durahm, frends of our have been told that there is an 18 month waiting list for PRIDE.

I assume they know the can take the PRIDE privately as well...need to pay but if it chops 18 months off the wait.

They do, but were told that taking private PRIDE does nothing to fast-track you when dealing with CAS.

Strange I was given a different impression by Pat Convery (director of the adoption council of Ontario) Last I spoke with her am pretty sure she said that if you get the training and homestudy done yourself they would take you on. It might be dependent on which CAS though and even more so on the type of child you are open to adopting. If they are unsure at all about what they are being told I would encourage them to talk to Pat directly. She really is quite willing to help people with this sort of thing and even talk to individual CAS's

What I have been told (both by local CAS and by Pat) is that if you take PRIDE privately then you MUST do your homestudy privately, too.  In my area, I ended up getting into PRIDE through CAS almost as quickly as I would have been able to get a homestudy started privately.  I think our CAS is faster (in recent times) than some areas but also there are only a couple practitioners actively doing private homestudies here (and one of them never returned my phone call) so they have waiting lists.  CAS also wants to do some sort of update to your private HS when you bring it to them so maybe that can cause a delay.  From talking to different people, it seems some CASs are happy if you do it privately -- saves them from having to use their own resources --and others somewhat discourage it as they feel they don't get to know you as well when it is done by an outside agency.

Not sure that any of this helps, but thought I'd share these tidbits from my experience.

[fingerscrossed]

Hmmm... Interesting and fantastic!  I will definitely pass on the info.