Frustration

So back in Nov we phoned up our adoption agency and said 'we're ready to start the process for a second child'. We knew that we would have to wait until after Christmas for anything to happen....

We had a visit from a social worker 5 weeks ago. It was our old social worker so she was honest and straightforward with us, and very much gave us the impression that the paper work would follow soon.

So here we are 5 weeks later, waiting for that paperwork....

And the reason, those magic targets made by the government. 8 months from enquiring until approval, except enquiring is getting that form sent off back to them. The longer they delay on sending the form, the easier it is for them.

I know that there are families already in the system, that they need to try to push through - but it's so frustrating .. we could be approved within 3 months, and have a child out of the care system not much longer after that. Instead we are waiting because the social workers are too busy meeting their targets with those that have already had the form.

So as generally happens when the government sets targets, things happen so slowly in the beginning, so that the waiting times during the time that counts is shorter!

There are a lot of children waiting to be adopted within our area at the minute - it's one of those areas on the map that shows over 48 children... speaking to one of the social workers we've been told the actual figure is twice that. Which is why it's so frustrating to be waiting for some paper to come through the post so that we can start again!