After Approval Panel!

[Ollym1988]

Hello! We have just been approved as future adopters on Thursday. We are all set up on Linkmaker and have picked our first 5 to express an interest in.

How quickly are we likely to hear about the next stage? Or is it unrealistic to think we will have found our perfect match in the first round of profiles we have looked at?

How long did it take you guys to find the one??

Thanks, Becky xx

Our 2 came home 3 months after approval, they were one of the first sets of sibs our SW put an interest in on our behalf. I was very dubious at first, they presented with many issues...but I couldn't stop thinking about them. They are perfect (non of the issues are currently present, but very early days). I found it more reassuring when there was a lot of info on the profiles, rather than very little. Some of the children's SWs/family finders will be more proactive than others, we also found the proactive ones to be much more reassuring. All the best, you just have to believe that it will happen when it's right for you. xx

Wow 3 months! That was speedy! Do you think that's because you were looking for a sibling group? Xx

3 months for us too, also with siblings (and a VA which I think helped). I think it definitely helped that we were looking for sibs, but tbh at the time (a year ago) there were so many children on linkmaker. Both siblings and singles of all ages. It was all very overwhelming and deeply sad.

Oh, and we didn't find them on linkmaker in the end, although we were in discussions about a number of groups on LM.

Maybe, our social worker expressed interest in them a week before we were adopter approved. The family finder was so enthusiastic about us though (it was flattering tbf), and that really motivated us (rightly or wrongly to pursue, we are all human and flattery is nice), the children also seemed to have such a great team behind them. The potential issues written down were much greater than we had anticipated when we set out, but we haven't seen any of them (YET). So far, their behaviour is just what you would expect for their ages, they are amazing! To be honest I ended up being much warier(?) of the profiles were everything seemed rosey and there was little info. Now at least if issues do crop up, we already have them written down in reports already done, which may make it easier to access support later on. The other thing is that because they reportedly might encounter issues, their SW, our SW and the panel were so determined that this match must be right, so although draining, no stone was left unturned!

Ours was a VA too, sometimes it helps being out of area for security, it does make us feel better xx

I was approved in the April and found my son in the June on Linkmaker. It took another 8 months before he was placed (this is not the usual timeframe, there were just alot of delays within the agencies). He was only the second child I'd personally expressed an interest in so it is possible to be matched with your first look at profiles from my experience.

Our son came to live with us approximately 8 months after approval. But we had his profile within 5 months.

We were approved in October & found our children on link maker within the month. Provisionally matched in December then because of Xmas etc we didn't get to matching panel until Feb & they moved in in march. Xmas break added probably at least an extra month onto time frames.

But we did look at EVERY profile on LM it was very hard. We expressed interest in perhaps 3 profiles & had several SWs contact us to send us profiles of the children they were placing. Hated having to say no but ended up using a stock response to make it easier on ourselves.

Good luck!!