"I want to provide a safe, stable home for a child that needs one."

This was a quote spoken by a prospective adoptive parent that I met yesterday, when I experienced a different piece of my internship. I went on a home visit with a worker who finds families for the older children in foster care. This is far different from the work I do with supervisor, who handles private infant and international adoptions.


The prospective mother and father have already raised some pretty solid children, and are looking to adopt one or 2. The husband wants a son, but there is a sibling duo (older sister and younger brother) that they have their eye on. They met the duo when they went through the 10-week MAPP (Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting) training, which is required of all foster parents. I do not know if it is required of all adoptive parents (I don't think it is) but some take it anyway.


Anyway, we interviewed the prospective mother for 2.5 hours! We had to explore spanking with the father a little, since it is obviously not the approach this class teaches when disciplining children, and I was very impressed with his honest answers. He seemed very genuine. We did have to reschedule with him because of the time it took just interview his wife.


After the interview, we looked around the house to ensure there were smoke alarms, fire extinguisher, enough space, etc. It was a very interesting experience, and I hope these 2 parents end up welcoming a child (or 2!) into their home.

P.S. I found it quite interesting that they actually film these older children for commercials called Thursday's Child that are aired on local news stations. It reminds me of the Humane Society commercials where they showcase a cat or dog in need of a home. Hmmm. Not sure how I feel about that...

Back to work!