Interesting facts about adopting through DSS
More things that I've learned about adopting through DSS:
1. We can't take our child out of state without getting permission from the kid's social worker beforehand. Since we sometimes hop in the car and drive up to Portsmouth, Portland, or Kittery, we're going to need to be careful with this. It's my understanding that permission's always granted, but the social worker needs to know where your child is at all times.
2. We can't consent to surgery on behalf of our child. If Hester needs surgery, her/his social worker will have to give the consent. I assume this doesn't apply in emergency situations, but I will check that out ASAP.
3. We're really not supposed to cut our child's hair into a different style or make any drastic changes to her/his physical appearance between placement and finalization. This isn't a hard rule, just a courtesy we're supposed to give the birth parents.
4. We can't take our child outside the United States, period (sorry, Canada!). Passports are almost never given to kids in care, and vacation is never a reason for issuing them. I guess I can kiss goodbye my dream of taking a preschool-age Hester to Aruba! (And side note: Since the US Passport Service won't grant Petunia and me passports in our legal married names, we're SOL anyway. Fucking DOMA! Gah.)
5. Our kid can be covered under both MassHealth and our private insurance. I called the private insurance today, and they're giving us one covered pediatrician interview meeting free. We'll have to pay out of pocket for any additional interviews we might need. Anyone know a great pediatrician in Worcester?
6. DSS makes you start taking your child for annual dental exams at age 3. That seems wrong to me; I always thought you were supposed to go much earlier than that.
I think that's it. It's a whole new world, this DSS adoption thing. I hope they'll give us a regulations manual so we know what we're responsible for. I don't want to be fucking it up and not even know it.
1. We can't take our child out of state without getting permission from the kid's social worker beforehand. Since we sometimes hop in the car and drive up to Portsmouth, Portland, or Kittery, we're going to need to be careful with this. It's my understanding that permission's always granted, but the social worker needs to know where your child is at all times.
2. We can't consent to surgery on behalf of our child. If Hester needs surgery, her/his social worker will have to give the consent. I assume this doesn't apply in emergency situations, but I will check that out ASAP.
3. We're really not supposed to cut our child's hair into a different style or make any drastic changes to her/his physical appearance between placement and finalization. This isn't a hard rule, just a courtesy we're supposed to give the birth parents.
4. We can't take our child outside the United States, period (sorry, Canada!). Passports are almost never given to kids in care, and vacation is never a reason for issuing them. I guess I can kiss goodbye my dream of taking a preschool-age Hester to Aruba! (And side note: Since the US Passport Service won't grant Petunia and me passports in our legal married names, we're SOL anyway. Fucking DOMA! Gah.)
5. Our kid can be covered under both MassHealth and our private insurance. I called the private insurance today, and they're giving us one covered pediatrician interview meeting free. We'll have to pay out of pocket for any additional interviews we might need. Anyone know a great pediatrician in Worcester?
6. DSS makes you start taking your child for annual dental exams at age 3. That seems wrong to me; I always thought you were supposed to go much earlier than that.
I think that's it. It's a whole new world, this DSS adoption thing. I hope they'll give us a regulations manual so we know what we're responsible for. I don't want to be fucking it up and not even know it.
posted by Clementine at 7:16 PM
3 Comments:
Are you allowed to go to the dentist earlier? I think Corwin and Clara went around age 2, maybe two and a half. There's not a lot that needs to be done before that time unless there is a problem. Your pediatrician can do a check and refer you to a dentist sooner if you need to.
Yeah, plus you're all about knowing the rules anyway. ;)
The haircut stuff and whatnot is interesting. The insurance is good, right?
Also, I can totally understand about the stay in the country thing. In my opinion, that just means you had better hurry up and squeeze in a visit before Hester Willa arrives!
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