Is it normal to pay for agency info sessions?

JanieJones · April 2010

Many of the practitioners and agencies I have contacted for fee schedules and basic information are asking for us to attend an info meeting at our cost, for roughly $300.00 plus taxes.

Some deny sharing information until these meetings that would affect wether or not we are interested in their services. ?I am working on budgeting for all of this and trying to figure out which route to pursue, but this first step is freaking me out!

?

Note: we did attend the free session offered by our local Children's Aid/Family Services about "state" adoptions, and two other people I had ?contacted were forthcoming with information to me.

silliestbunny · April 2010

We attended about five information sessions and did not pay for any of them. A few lawyers I contacted would only provide basic information w/o paying for a session. HTH

CaptainSerious · April 2010

I'm adopting internationally, so it may be different, but I never attended an agency information session. I called them all and asked all the questions I had over the phone. i just crossed the ones that weren't forthcoming off the list.

I was even uncomfortable sending in a $300 application fee before we were accepted into the program, but that seems to be normal.

Art Teacher · April 2010

We attended 2 informational meetings and both were free.

BeachJenn · April 2010

We attended a 2 day "workshop" and it was $200. We weren't allowed to proceed without it.

Honeydew1894 · April 2010

BeachJenn:
We attended a 2 day "workshop" and it was $200. We weren't allowed to proceed without it.

Our agency has a similar requirement. At first, we were put off by it, but we decided to go after our friends went and REALLY liked the agency. Our thought was that while we agree that info should be free, if they are willing to make an overnight retreat affair, they may operate a bit differently. After the retreat, we found out that they do operate differently and it was great! It was a nice time to really get to know the case workers and a chance to ask our questions in a more intimate setting. Now I can't say for sure that your info session will be like ours, but if it is, I hope you find it to your liking.

kgs0505 · April 2010

I never paid for any info sessions, including with the lawyer I went with. Granted most of the info I did get was thru a Resolve seminar, but that fee was nominal (pay to provide place and snacks, not to compensate the speakers).

JanieJones · April 2010

Thanks for the feedback.

This isn't for a retreat type thing (which sounds neat BTW), but a 75 minute one-on-one with the facilitator/practitioner/lawyer/agency rep. ?It's a bit off-putting, but I'll withhold judgement until I have all my preliminary comparisons done.

mrsdrkwaver · April 2010

I went to info meetings at several places and never had ot pay to attend them the only time i paid a fee was for the application that was around 300 and there was not taxes paid

pepomntpat · April 2010

I wouldn't want to pay a fee just to get information. That sounds fishy to me to be honest. I got all the information I wanted for free.

mcmann05 · April 2010

We went to a seminar just yesterday and it was free. It was 4 hours and they even provided a light lunch.

However, we do have to do what they call a "weekend intensive", I would assume it's a retreat. It costs $950 but they take that amount out of the total amount due. It's also after we turn in our application.

I would question anyone before paying that kind of money as we are a "budget" family too. Especially if they are being stingy on information beforehand.

Hope this helps some. :-)