What Is Foster Adoption
In today’s video “What is Foster Adoption” Ryun explains the foster adoption process. Many of the steps for foster adoption are the same as those for private. You must have a home study, background check, etc.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Ryun Hovind and today in our TYPES OF ADOPTION video series I’m going to discuss “What Is Foster Adoption” In case you don’t know our story,MeLisa and I are both parents to 6 adopted kids… Of the 6, both of our sons. And our 3 new daughters were all adopted from foster care. Now I don’t want to say we’re experts… but… well… We do have lot of experience with foster adoption. Children who are placed in foster care have been removed from their homes due to neglect or abuse. Because of this unhealthy home life,many of these children may have special needs which can either be physical or emotional. While the child is in foster care,the goal is to reunite him or her with their family. But, if the parents are unable to fulfill what is asked of them by the courts. Then the child is placed for adoption. There’s a lot more to it than that, but today I want to focus on the adoption part of the equation.
If you are interested in foster adoption, first you must become a licensed foster parent. Like other forms of adoption you still need to have a home study as well as a background check and training. You can choose to be licensed through DCS or a private foster agency. It’s your choice. We’ve done both. The two types of agencies have “access” to the same foster kids. One of the major differences of adopting from foster care vs private or international adoption is cost. There is little to no cost to adopt from foster care. The government along with nonprofit companies cover the costs associated with the actual adoption. On top of that you can receive a monthly stipend for the child until they are 18,plus a state medical card that provides coverage into their mid twenties.
Other benefits you receive include post adoption services. These can include different types of therapies and residential care if needed. Prospective parents do have the option to adopt foster children from other states, but travel costs are at the expense of the parent. Now the risk involved with adopting from foster care is that you can have a child living with you who reunites with their family. While this is a good thing for the child, it can be devastating for you. If you want to decrease this risk, you need to only consider children whose parental rights have already been terminated. We explain more on this in our video “What is TPR.”
On average it takes a year to become a licensed foster parent. And an additional year to be matched with a child. Children available for foster adoption are typically six years of age and are of many different races. Younger children are often part of a larger sibling group. Like in our case. We have adopted two sibling groups from foster care. Adopting multiple children is more challenging. Personally I feel one of the major benefits of adopting from foster care… Is the fact that you can meet the child before making your decision. It is especially important when adopting older children to have a sense of connection with the child. We felt that connection with each of our six adopted kids.
If you have specific questions please leave them in the “comments” section below. We offer more information about foster adoption on the resources page of our website adoptivelegacy.com. There are typically half a million children waiting to be adopted in our nation’s foster care system. You could be the forever family they’re waiting for.
Related posts:
- Foster Children There are other ways to help foster children than becoming a foster...
- Considering Adoption Are you considering adoption? MeLisa Lomelino from Adoptive Legacy discusses some points...
Filed in: New To Adoption • Video
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I’m not sure what state you live in but I wanted to mention that each state does things a little differently. The only thing that surprised me is that you said it takes a year to get lisenced and a year to get matched. In Tennessee they try to get all the training and home study complete in 60 days (which ended up being more like 90 days for us.) We accepted any placement up to 5 years old and were called within a couple weeks. Our first placement was a 16 month old with no siblings. She was reunited with an extended family member after 5 weeks with us. We were called immediately with more placements but we said no for a few weeks to give ourselves recovery time. Our next placement was a 2 month old. She had older half-siblings already in new homes that couldn’t take an additional child. We ended up adopting her. All that to say, things moved much more quickly for us and the kids were younger. Just something for others to keep in mind.
Thanks for your helpful comment and encouraging others that the process can be faster. We actually live in California, but we were also licensed foster parents when we lived in Nashville, Tennessee. We’ve actually been licensed in 3 different states. I’m glad that Tennessee is moving toward a faster time frame. My sister was also licensed in Tennessee and it took over a year because of lost paperwork and full classes.
We say a year, because there are many steps that have to happen and even more when you are licensed for adoption up front. I always want to give people realistic expectations. I’m one of those worst case scenario types. So glad that things moved quickly for you. Congrats on your adoption. Please share more about your foster adoption experiences. There are many who can benefit from your encouragement.
To piggyback off of the previous commenter, a lot of things vary by state. I live in PA, where foster parents MUST work with an agency; they cannot foster or adopt via the state.
Also, a correction:
While there are about 400K children in foster care at any given time, only about 100K of those are waiting to be adopted.
Thank you for sharing how foster adoption works in your state. As MeLisa stated in the previous comment we have been licensed foster parents in IL, TN and now CA. I’m curious when you say that you can’t foster or adopt via the state. Does your state not have a DCFS or DCS? In most states DCS acts as the umbrella that private foster agencies work with. To put it in crude terms they act as a funnel.
As to the number of children in care I know it is always fluctuating. When we started it was upwards to a million. I know that with recent economic conditions that number has once again sadly been on a steady incline. The link you sent is a great resource to stay up to date with current numbers. I do have to admit I have trouble saying “only about 100k are waiting to be adopted.” Whether it is 100 or 10,000 or 100,000 or even a million children without homes, for me any child without a family is one too many.
If you have more links about how to become a foster adoptive parent in PA please share!
Oh, here’s a source for my info:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report18.htm
This website is not letting me reply to the comment for me above.
>> I do have to admit I have trouble saying “only about 100k are waiting to be adopted.” <<
Why do you have troubles saying it if it's the truth?
From AdoptUsKids.org:
"Today there are 104,000 children in foster care waiting to be adopted ranging in age from less than a year old to 21."
So when you write on your block that the number is "typically" half a million it diminishes the ability of this site to serve as a true resource for information (though certainly still remains useful for hearing your personal experience).
Yes, in PA one can foster or adopt via a private agency that contracts with the state. One does not, contrary to your post, have the choice to do so directly via the state here.
MaLa,
I was referring to the word “only” in front of 100,000 adoptable kids, not to the accuracy of your statement. Sorry for the misunderstanding. My point is simply that there are plenty of opportunities for foster parents to adopt through foster care if they are interested.
As for our site being a useful resource, I believe folks like you offering comments and current information allows for the videos to be a useful resource (as statistics change and new laws surface). Additionally, it looks like a youtube annotation might be in order. Thanks for reading.
Ryun
And by block I mean blog. I’ve been spoiled by the edit function on Facebook.