Pre-Adoption or Pre-Fostering Evaluation
Welcome! If you’re reading this, you are likely navigating the “marathon” phase of your adoption or fostering journey. You have a long checklist, a lot of paperwork, and likely a fair amount of stress.
I want to clear one thing up right away: This evaluation is not a test of perfection.
The goal isn’t to find a couple with zero flaws or a person who has never faced a challenge. In fact, the resilience you’ve gained through your life experiences is often what makes you a better parent. My role isn’t to “catch you out,” it’s to help tell your story and ensure you have the support you need to welcome a child into your home.
How I Help:
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Low-Stress Environment: We trade the “interrogation” feel for a supportive, experienced, warm conversation.
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Clarity: I guide you through exactly what to expect from the evaluation and we’ll discuss what the specific state, country, or agency you are using requires so there are no surprises.
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Efficiency: I know your timeline is important, and I prioritize getting your report completed accurately and promptly. I guarantee a two-week turnaround for my reports as soon as we complete your evaluation.
Dr. Shannon Thomas, Psy.D.
What if you find out I’m not perfect?
What parent is? Negative feelings like anxiety and disappointment (if you’ve been hoping to conceive or adopt for some time now and have not been matched with a child yet) are expected. They don’t disqualify you, neither does arguing with your spouse or feeling afraid about the responsibility that comes with a child. Those are all normal and expected, very human feelings. All I evaluate is your fitness and readiness to be parents by ensuring you’ll provide a safe home for a child, not a perfect home where they’ll never experience a negative emotion. A safe, loving home.
What can I expect during my Pre-Adoption or Pre-Fostering Evaluation?
- We’ll start with a clinical interview to evaluate mental health and parental readiness. This entails a one-hour interview per parent and then, if you are adopting with a partner, a 30-60 minute joint interview. During this clinical interview, I’ll gather information about your biopsychosocial experience, meaning your childhood, medical history, relationship, work, and social life. We’ll cover your attitudes towards parenting, your family structure, living arrangements, and psychological history and well-being. If this sounds thorough, you’re right! My evaluations are so thorough that I have never been asked by an agency to re-interview individuals to gather additional information. This thoroughness is key, because missing components lead to unexpected delays and I appreciate how lengthy the process of trying to welcome a child into your home is already.
- Next, I’ll conduct psychological assessments to help determine mental health concerns, including the use of the most up-to-date, highly validated and reliable MMPI. On these measures, I’m looking for the “big ticket items” that would prevent you from providing a safe home for your child. Plenty of wonderful parents have anxiety, ADHD, and/or are abuse survivors. Revealing or discovering a mental health diagnosis does not discount you from adoption or fostering. Additionally, there is no grade on these assessments, so this is not a case of “if you score below a certain percentage, then you’ve failed.”
- The goal of your psychological evaluation is to assess your personality, cognitive functioning, and behavioral traits to ensure that they are conducive to providing a safe, loving home in which to raise a child.
Pre-adoption or Pre-foster Evaluation
Schedule a Free Consultation
I’m so glad you’re here. Let’s talk!
Call me to schedule a free 15 minute first session to learn how I work and ask any questions you may have about the process. If I’m with another patient when you call, please leave a voicemail with your availabilities so I can call you back when you are free to talk. I look forward to connecting with you.
Phone Number
(626) 784-7115
Good Faith Estimate
If you are not using insurance to pay for therapy, then you have the right to request a “Good Faith Estimate:” an approximation of how much, based on the symptoms and treatment goals you identify during our consultation, you can expect your non-emergency mental health services to cost. If your symptoms and treatment goals do not increase from what is described in this Good Faith Estimate, you attend therapy as initially agreed upon (e.g.: one weekly 60 minute therapy session), and you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, then you are permitted to dispute the bill. For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises.