15 Steps for adoption through foster care.1. Learn all you can about adoption. You can use the phone books,
public libraries, and the internet to search. There are many resources out there to help you learn more. 2. Complete a self-assessment. You don’t need to be perfect. Some key characteristics are : a belief in adoption and an ability to commit; patience and perseverance; a good sense of humor and talent for keeping life in perspective; a love of children and parenting; the ability to roll with unexpected changes, stresses, and challenges; the ability to deal with rejection without taking it personally; the ability to accept without judging; tolerance and understanding for your child's conflicting feelings and your own; an awareness that healing doesn't come quickly, all wounds cannot be healed, and your child may not attach to your family; the strength to be consistent and set limits; a willingness to learn new parenting techniques and advocate for your children’s educational and medical needs; and resourcefulness. 3. Decide what kind of adoption you want to pursue. You are going to have several decisions to make here, such as age, background, ethnicity. Do you want to maintain an open adoption or would you rather it be closed? Would you take in siblings or only one child? After narrowing your selection down, you need to decide whether you are going to adopt through a public or private agency.Public agencies charge nothing or very little for adoptions, respond more slowly to inquiries, and have flexible eligibility requirements for adoptive parents. Private agencies usually charge more than public agencies, will respond more quickly to inquiries, have access to a more diverse population of available children, and they may target specific groups of parents for adoptions (based on factors such as age, race, religion, income, ect.). 4. Find ways to cover adoption expenses. You will have to participate in a home study, and these can cost up to $4000. Since adopting is a legal process, you will likely need an attorney as well. This fee as well as court fees can range from $1000 to $6000. Parents have several options for covering the cost, such as loans, employer assistance, military reimbursements, tax credits and exclusions, and adoption subsidies. 5. Select an agency. To find as many agencies as possible some resources are your state's Department of Human Services, the U.S. Department's Office of Children's issues, and your local yellow pages. You can also contact other adoptive parents or adoptive parent support groups. Some questions to ask agencies when selecting the right one for you are: 1. Who can adopt from the agency 2. What kinds of children does the agency place 3. Where do the children come from 4. How long is the average wait 5. How much does it cost 6. What are the home study requirements 7. How many adoptions have fallen through in the past year 8. How many adoptions have been successful in the past year? 6. Let the agency know you are serious. If you want the process to get started, let them know you want to go through with the adoption. The first step is usually an orientation meeting. At this meeting you will meet social workers and learn about the policies, learn about the types of children available through this agency, learn about foster care, and get application materials. 7. Complete an adoption application. If the application is hard or confusing, you can ask the agency or another adoptive parent to help you fill it out. You will want to find out how long it takes to process the application and the fee. 8. Begin home study. A home study is an educational process in which your social worker will learn more about you and your ability to parent. It will also teach you about the effects of adoption on children and families, and prepare you to become a parent. This process can take somewhere between two months and a year. The following items are required during the home study process: an autobiographical statement, certified copies of birth certificates for you, your partner, and any children, a certified copy of your marriage license, certified copies of divorce decrees, the death certificate of a former spouse, certified copied of the finalization or adoption decrees for any adopted children, child abuse and criminal record clearance, or a notarized statement from the police declaring that you and other adults in your home have faced no felony convictions, income verification (may include tax returns, W-2 forms, and paycheck stubs), a statement of health provided by a physician, written references from friends, employers, neighbors, etc, and your fingerprints. The cost for a home study can be from $1000 to $4000. 9. Attend adoption and parenting classes. Most agencies will require that you attend a parenting class. Even if they don’t, it is strongly recommended. You are going to want to learn all you can about adoption issues. 10. Begin searching for a child. Learn how your adoption agency is going to conduct the search. What criteria will they use to match a child to your family? Are they willing to search outside of local parameters for your child? If you become interested in a child out of state, will they help you? To keep the process moving, stay in close contact with your agency. You can also attend matching parties or update your parenting profile. 11. Selecting a child or sibling group to bring into your home. Before agreeing to adopt, learn everything you can about the child or sibling group. This includes prenatal care, exposures to drug and alcohol abuse, birth parents' medical histories, foster care placements, siblings, interests, talents, ect. If the child has medical conditions or other disabilities, decide if your family can handle that. 12. Prepare for your child's arrival. You need to anticipate how this addition to your family will affect your life. You may want to update the family's insurance, get a copy of the child's original birth certificate, prepare to get a new social security number and birth certificate, learn as much as you can about the child's habits and personality, keep items that tie to the child's past, and inform your other children about likely changes. 13. Bring the child home. When a new child is placed in your home, you will receive temporary legal custody. For the first few months, the agency will monitor how the placement is going. This could last anywhere from 6 months to a year. If all goes well, the agency will recommend to the court that the adoption be approved. 14. File a petition to adopt. This is a document in court that initiates the legal aspects of adoption. In order to file the petition, you will need the child's birth certificate, a written statement saying you want to adopt, a written statement saying you are the best interest for the child, your name, age, and address, the date on which and from whom you received custody of the child, a statement of why the birthparents' rights are being given up, and a disclosure of any relationship you have with the child (grandparent, aunt, uncle, ect.). 15. Make it legal. Your adoption is not official until you finalize it. Finalization hearings usually take place within a year after the child has been placed in your home. The hearing can last from 30 to 60 minutes. The adoptive parents and adoptees, adoptive family's lawyer, and the agency social worker that placed the child in the home should attend this hearing. As soon as the judge signs the papers, you gain permanent guardianship over your child. |
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