How do I get my adoption case to Drew?

Your caseworker will give you a list of local attorneys to choose from, called a Panel Attorney List. All you need to do is let your caseworker know you’d like to use Drew as your attorney. Your caseworker will prepare the subsidy documents and send them to Drew. Drew’s office will prepare the adoption documents and schedule you for a subsidy review.

What is a subsidy review?

The “subsidy” is the contract between you and DCFS, including the benefits you will receive as part of the subsidized adoption or guardianship. We will review those benefits and your obligations under the contract at the first meeting.

What should I bring to my meeting with Drew?

You do not need to bring any documentation to your meeting. DCFS will provide all the documents needed to Drew, and she will generate the other documents.

What is the timeline to finalization of my adoption or guardianship?

From the time you select Drew as your attorney with your caseworker, it can take a few months for the caseworker to get all the information to Drew. This is because there is a lot of information to gather, and some of it takes time to be sent out to other agencies, such as background checks.

Once Drew receives your subsidy packet, she will set up a meeting with you, usually within 2 weeks of receipt.

After you review your subsidy with Drew, Drew will send the paperwork back to DCFS and file the Petition for Adoption with the court. A rough timeline of how long it takes to get approval back from DCFS to move forward with a final court date is about 90 days. This can very widely.

Once Drew receives approval from DCFS to finalize the adoption, Drew will coordinate a court date with the court that will be about a month from when we receive approval from DCFS.