> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rescueconsole.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Adoption applications
> The applications list, an application's stages and record, how it is compared with the animals it names, the decision, and recording the adoption.
**Applications** holds every adoption application and where each one stands. It is not in the sidebar: open the search palette (the **Search** box at the top of the page, or **Ctrl K**, **⌘ K** on a Mac) and type "Applications".
Anyone whose role can **See** Animals can open an application. Moving it, editing it, deciding it and recording the adoption all need **Change** on Animals.
## The applications list
The list shows the applications still open: ones not yet approved, denied or withdrawn. The most recently submitted come first.
Once an application is approved, denied or withdrawn, it leaves this list. You can still reach it from the form submission it was made from, from **View the application** on an adoption recorded from it, or from its meet and greet on the calendar.
| Column | What it means |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Applicant** | The person applying, with their email. Always shown. |
| **Stage** | Where the application is now, in your own stage names. |
| **Pets** | How many animals the application names. |
| **Submitted** | The day it left Draft. |
| **Decided** | The day it was approved or denied. |
Use **Columns** to choose which columns you see. Your choice is remembered on this device.
### Searching and filtering
**Search applicants…** matches the applicant's first name, last name or email.
The filters beside the list count what each choice would show:
* **Stage**: each of your stages.
* **Housing**: the housing type the application gives (House, Apartment, Condo, Townhouse, Mobile home, Farm, Other).
**Clear filters** puts the list back to where it started.
### New application
Press **New application**, choose the **Applicant** from your people, and press **Create draft**. This creates a Draft and opens it; everything else is filled in on the record. Applying also marks the person as an adopter.
An application can also be made from a form someone sent through your public site. Its record then says **From the public form**, with a link to **open the submission**. See [Form submissions](/everyday/submissions).
## Stages
A row of stages runs across the top of every application, in order, so you can see how far along it is. The stages reached are highlighted. Press a stage to move the application there.
Every organization starts with these, in this order:
| Stage | What it means |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Draft** | Being filled in. Not yet submitted. |
| **Submitted** | Received. Leaving Draft sets the **Submitted** date. |
| **Assigned** | Somebody on your team is working it. Assigning the first person moves a Submitted application here on its own, while this stage is switched on. |
| **Under review** | Being checked. |
| **Pending third party** | Waiting on somebody outside: a landlord, a vet, a reference. |
| **Meet scheduled** | A meet and greet is booked. Saving a meet date moves the application here. |
| **Hold for a better match** | Kept back for now. |
You can rename, reorder, switch off and add stages, and say whether each applies to adoption applications, foster applications or both, under **Settings → Animal management → Application stages**. See [Animal management](/settings/pet-configuration). People whose role can **Configure** Animals see an **Edit stages** link at the end of the row that goes there.
**Approved**, **Denied** and **Withdrawn** are not stages. They are decisions, and each closes the application.
### Mark withdrawn
**Mark withdrawn**, at the end of the stage row, closes the application because the applicant stepped back. It happens at once, with no question first, and records no reason. A withdrawn application cannot be reopened or changed.
## The application record
The top of the record shows the applicant's name, the stage, and the day it was submitted (or **Not yet submitted**).
| Button | What it does |
| -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Print** | Prints the application. Your browser's print window can also save it as a PDF. |
| **Edit** | Opens the answers for editing. Only while the application is open. |
| **Delete application** (the bin) | Deletes the application. See [Deleting an application](#deleting-an-application). |
The record has four tabs.
| Tab | What it is for |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Answers** | What the applicant told you, and any emails about the application. |
| **Meet & greet** | When and where they meet the animal, and who they meet. |
| **Notes** | Notes your team writes while reviewing. |
| **Tasks** | Workflows and tasks on this application. |
Beside the tabs are four cards: **Assigned to**, **Pets applied for**, **This home and these animals**, and **Applicant**, which links to the applicant's person record and names a co-applicant if there is one.
### Answers
The answers are grouped as the form asks them.
| Group | Answers |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Co-applicant** | Name, Email, Phone. |
| **Household** | Housing, Renting, Landlord approves, Landlord, Landlord phone, Fenced yard, Adults, Children, Youngest child, Everyone agrees. |
| **Pet experience** | Has pets now, Current pets, Had pets before, Previous pets, Hours alone / day. |
| **Veterinarian** | Practice, Phone. |
A yes-or-no question has three answers: **Yes**, **No** and **Not asked**. *Not asked* means nobody has found out yet, which is different from no: a landlord nobody has called is not a landlord who said no. A text answer nobody filled in reads **Not provided**.
Below the answers, people whose role can **See** Communications find an **Emails** card listing the conversations about this application. It lists only the mailboxes you have access to, and does not appear when there are none.
### Editing the answers
Press **Edit** to open **Edit application**. Every answer is optional.
| Field | What it means |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Co-applicant name, Co-applicant email, Co-applicant phone | A second adult applying with them. |
| Landlord name, Landlord phone | Who to ask about a rented home. |
| Veterinary practice, Veterinarian phone | Their current vet. |
| Housing type | House, Apartment, Condo, Townhouse, Mobile home, Farm, Other, or **Not provided**. |
| Adults in the household, Children in the household | Whole numbers. |
| Age of youngest child | In years. |
| Hours alone per day | From 0 to 24. |
| Renting their home, Landlord approves a pet, Fenced yard, Everyone in the household agrees, Has pets now, Has had pets before | Each **Yes**, **No** or **Not asked**. |
| Current pets, Previous pets | In their own words. |
Any [custom fields](/settings/custom-fields) your organization added for applications appear at the end. Press **Save**.
Once an application is decided or withdrawn, it can no longer be edited.
### Meet and greet
The **Meet & greet** tab is where you arrange for the applicant to meet the animal.
| Field | What it means |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Date and time** | When they meet. |
| **Meeting with** | Who they meet: staff, a foster or a volunteer, and more than one if you like. Use **Add somebody to the meet** to add each person. |
| **Where** | The shelter, a foster home, a park. |
| **Notes** | Anything to remember. |
Press **Save**. Saving a date moves the application to **Meet scheduled**, and the meet appears on the [calendar](/everyday/calendar). Each person on the meet gets a task for that day, and everyone other than you is notified. When you change the date the tasks move with it; take somebody off the meet or clear the date and their open task goes.
After the meet, press **Mark completed**. Their tasks are marked done.
### Notes
Notes your team writes while reviewing the application, newest first.
### Tasks
The **Tasks** tab has two cards.
* **Workflows**: the checklists running on this application, on the form submission it was made from, and on the applicant. A checklist can start on its own when an application is received, approved or rejected; see [Workflows](/settings/workflows).
* **Tasks**: tasks attached to this application, including the meet and greet tasks.
### Assigned to
Who on your team is working the application. Use **Assign a team member** to add someone, and the cross beside a name to take them off. Only members of your team can be assigned, up to ten. Each person you add is notified, unless they added themselves.
If the application was made from a form submission, the submission is assigned to the same people.
### Pets applied for
The animals the applicant asked about, in the order they gave, each with its species, breed and status. Use **Add an animal** to add another, or the cross beside an animal to remove it, while the application is open.
The animals named here are what the match panel compares. They are not necessarily the animals who go home: that is decided on the contract. See [Recording the adoption](#recording-the-adoption).
### On hold
A workflow check that fails can put an application on hold. The record then says **On hold** with the reason, and the application stays at its stage. Press **Take it off hold** once whatever it was waiting for is resolved. Approving or denying also takes it off hold.
## This home and these animals
The card beside the record that puts each animal applied for next to this household. It compares the animal's answers under [What this home needs](/animals/record#what-this-home-needs) with the application's answers, and says, for each, one of four things:
| Mark | What it means |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| **Conflict** | Both sides are known and they disagree. |
| **Check** | The answers raise a question they cannot settle. |
| **Fine** | Both sides are known and they agree. |
| **Not assessed** | One side or the other has not been recorded. |
Each animal gets a one-line count beside its name, such as "1 conflict · 2 not assessed", or **Nothing standing in the way**. The animal's **Placement notes** are shown under its rows.
What is compared:
| On the animal | On the application | What is said |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Needs a fenced yard | Fenced yard | A conflict when the animal needs one and the home has none. |
| Suits an apartment | Housing type | A conflict when the animal does not suit apartment living and the home is an apartment or a condo. |
| Good with children, Youngest child age | Children in the household, Age of youngest child | A conflict when the animal is not good with children and there are children, or when the youngest child is under the animal's youngest child age. A check when the animal has a youngest child age and the application gives no age. |
| Good with dogs, Good with cats | Has pets now, Current pets | Never a conflict. When the animal cannot live with dogs or cats and the home has pets, it is a check, quoting what the application says about them, for you to read. |
| Hours alone they manage | Hours alone per day | A conflict when the home would leave the animal alone longer. |
| Needs an experienced adopter | Has had pets before | A conflict when the animal needs an experienced adopter and this would be their first pet. |
Nothing here scores or ranks applicants or animals. The animals are listed in the order the applicant gave. Anything nobody has assessed is shown as **Not assessed**, never as a pass, so an animal nobody has checked with children does not read as safe with them.
The card does not appear when the application names no animals.
## Approving or denying
While an application is open, **Approve** and **Deny** sit under the stage row.
Press one to open **Approve this application** or **Deny this application**.
| Field | What it means |
| ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Reason** | Required to deny, optional to approve. Housing unsuitable, Landlord denied, Insufficient experience, Incomplete information, Animal no longer available, A better match was found, or Other. |
| **Notes** | What led to the decision. |
Press **Approve** or **Deny** to record it.
Deciding:
* closes the application. It shows the decision, the day, the reason and the notes, and can no longer be edited, moved or reopened.
* records who decided and when, and takes the application off hold.
* starts any workflow set to start when the application is approved (on the application, or on the applicant) or rejected. See [Workflows](/settings/workflows).
* gives the same decision to the form submission the application was made from, if there is one.
A decision cannot be undone. An application approved or denied by mistake stays that way; the applicant would need a new application.
RescueConsole does not email the applicant when you approve or deny.
## Recording the adoption
Approval says the applicant may adopt. The adoption itself is recorded on the approved application, by signing an adoption contract. This is the only place in the app an adoption is recorded.
An approved application shows three steps, **After approval**:
1. **Approved**, and the day.
2. **Contract signed**: sign it on the **Adoption** card below; the signature records the adoption.
3. **Paid and finalized**: on each adoption, once it is recorded. See [Adoptions](/animals/adoptions).
You need at least one active adoption contract before you can record an adoption. See [Contract templates](/settings/contract-templates).
### Going home
On the **Adoption** card, choose the animals the contract is for. The animals applied for are offered as quick picks under **Applied for**; press one to add it. Any other animal can be chosen with **Choose an animal** (then **And another**). Remove one with the cross beside its name. Up to ten animals can go on one contract.
**Adopted on** is today in your time zone. Change it if the animal went home on another day.
### The fee for each animal
Each animal chosen offers its fee:
* The fee after any discounts that apply, with each discount and why, or the animal's fee when no discount applies. This is chosen to begin with.
* **the list fee, no discount**, when a discount would have applied.
* **Another amount**, typed in, such as 150 or 0.
Discounts are worked out for the animals going home together, so a pair discount counts the animals you chose rather than the ones applied for. Fees and discounts are set under **Settings → Finance & adoption → Adoption fees**; see [Finance settings](/settings/finance) and [The fee](/animals/adoptions#the-fee).
The **Fee** shown with the contract preview is the amount that will be recorded. Check it before signing.
### Which contract
**Which contract?** lists the active adoption contracts offered for these animals, as "name · version". A contract can be limited to certain animals or fees; see [Contract templates](/settings/contract-templates). If none is offered, the card lists each contract and what it is for. If you have none at all, it says so.
### What this contract asks
A contract template can ask for up to four answers at signing. Only the ones the chosen contract asks for appear.
| Question | What it means |
| ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **The media release choice** | **Agreed: photos and stories may be shared**, or **Declined**. If the application already carries a media release answer, that is used unless you choose here. |
| **How they pay, and how to complete it** | **Card, with a payment link**, each payment app your organization set up under **Settings → Finance & adoption → Payments** (Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle), **Cash**, **Check**, or **Something else**. Choosing one fills **How to complete it** with suggested words, which you can change (up to 1000 characters). |
| **The team member approving it** | A member of your team. It starts as whoever approved the application. |
| **Where it was completed** | **At one of our locations**, **At an offsite event**, **At a foster home** or **Remotely**, and then which one. If you have none of that kind set up, **Name the place**. |
### Signing
1. Press **Show the contract**. The contract appears exactly as it will be signed, with the total **Fee** for every animal on it.
2. If anything is still missing, it says so: **Still to answer** lists questions not yet answered, and a contract that uses a merge field such as `{{approved_by}}` without asking for it must be fixed in its template first.
3. The adopter types their full name in **Type your full name to sign**. It starts as the applicant's name. The typed name is the signature.
4. The adopter ticks **I have read the agreement above and consent to signing it electronically.**
5. Press **Sign, and record the adoption** (or **Sign, and record 2 adoptions**, and so on).
If you change anything after showing the contract, the card says **Something changed since the contract was shown. Show it again before signing.** and signing waits until you press **Show the contract again**.
Signing:
* records one adoption for each animal, each with its own fee and ledger, dated **Adopted on**.
* marks each animal adopted, with the adopter and the day as its outcome, and opens an adopter placement.
* keeps a permanent copy of the exact text signed, with the answers given, and notes the contract as signed on every adoption it names.
* refuses an animal that already has an adoption on file.
The card then reads **Recorded**, and lists each adoption with the day it was adopted. Open one to take payment and finalize it; see [Adoptions](/animals/adoptions).
People without **Change** on Animals see "Approved. The adoption is recorded here by somebody who can make changes in Animals." instead of the form.
## Deleting an application
The bin at the top of the record, **Delete application**, removes the application at once. Anyone whose role can **Change** Animals can press it, on an open or a decided application.
There is no question first, and a deleted application cannot be brought back.