Adopting thru foster agency.....want answers from those who did this?

Question

i am just getting started... as in..... my first training will be this saturday. i know i need 36 hours of training. i wanted to ask people who actually been in this situation, how long did it take to complete training, and after you did, how long b4 you were called about a child that you could foster ??? we would like to foster children that the agency feels will be able to be adopted or amybe only foster the ones whose parents already lost their rights, so they would be imediatley up for adopting.

i know this is a touchy subject b/c alot of people are against it for some reason, but i have wanted to adopt along time.....my husband wants a child as well, and we cant have a child togehter. this is our other option and i think its really a good thing to do, to take a child out of a bad situation to give them a loving home. i assure you i will love my child and treat them as if they were my own.

if a childs parents do lose all rights....do they still allow visits and so on? just curious

Answer 1

Ok I told you to email me and you did and I have not gotten back to you, so I am going to put what I would send here

A year ago we started the process it was 24hrs of training back then but I know it has changed to the 36hrs.  Once a week for 6 weeks for me. Both parents have to do the training and the home study because all adults in the home must have criminal background checks and be licensed.  This includes 18 year old bio kids in the home. They won't be licensed foster parents but they must have background checks done.  Then after the classes you have your home study.  We did classes from August to September and were called for home study in October.  The home study  length depends on many factors. One if you go through the county it takes longer. Two how available you are to meet with the worker.  County workers don't make calls after 5 private agencies will meet often on your schedule.  I am off every other Friday so that is when we met with a break for her vacation at Christmas. We would have been done in January but two of our references got lost in the mail.  They had to resend then our references fax them back instead.  We were approved in March then you have to do a foster parenting 101 class. The 1st classes are about development, what is expected of you and the type of kids in care.  Foster parenting 101 is the rules and regulations. Like you can't physically discipline foster kids ever under no circumstances.  They wait to see if you pass the home study and back ground check before giving you this class.  Then you are open to kids.  In my state you have to license separately  for foster parenting and adoption but it is the same process and can be done at the same time so we did this.  As for how quickly a child can be placed depends on how open you are.  The more ages s*x or even number of kids you are willing to accept the quicker you get  a placement.  There are more siblings in care and they try to keep siblings together even if it means sending them to another city.  We were only open for a child 0-3 girl at first. We were approved in May and had no placements till July.  We changed our mind and opened our home to a boys and our foster son was born the next day and we brought him home from the hospital two days later.  We were picked because we are fostering to adopt and this is moms 11 child and she has custody of none. They do not expect her to work her plan and suspect he will go up for adoption.  Usually they give them 12 months she was only given 6 and it has been 5 weeks and no one has seen her . She has not even started to work her plan.  We were called Monday to see if we still want to adopt because they are moving forward with the paperwork because the don't think she will do anything.  So hopefully by Christmas or January he will be ours.

Once rights are terminated no visits are mandated you can if you feel like. We have never met mom and probally never will. She does not seem like she will show up for anything.  Her family can not take him because they have her other kids and are to through with her so once her rights are gone that is it.  We are asking about his siblings hoping to have some contact because GOD forbid he dates his sister later or something.  

Answer 2

Hello.  Some information for you about TPR:

In most cases, the goal is re-unification of child with bio-parents.  

Approximately, 60% of foster children are returned home.

When a child is removed, the bio-parents are given case plans that they need to work, which could include things like drug rehab, job training, parenting classes, etc.  As long as the bio-parents are "making reasonable moves" towards working their case plan, TPR will not happen.

However, if the bio-parents are not moving toward working their case plans, TPR can occur after 15 months of the child being in foster care and the child can become legally free for adoption.  I believe that 15 months it the law now.  

BUT, BUT, that 15 months that a child has to wait to become legally free for adoption can be less, IF there is severe abuse to or abandonment of the child.  In some cases, it is clear that the child will not be returned, and TPR can happen as quickly as the courts move.

Now, when TPR happens, the bio-parents HAVE NO RIGHTS OR ACCESS to the child.  In fact, no information about the child is given to the bio-parents ever again.  And the children get no information about their bio-parents either.  

The courts try to ensure that there is NO information about the foster parents that the bio-parents ever know.

I think it is a very kind thing that you are considering fostering or fostering/adoption of children.  There are many children of all ages, races, and both genders, that need homes and families.  

While one person stated that it is indeed difficult, the rewards will be great, because you will be saving the life of a child in need.

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EDIT:   Oh yeah, I don't think people are "against" adoption from foster care.  These are children who literally have no family because of the behaviors of their bio-parents.  These kids need a home and family.

I think  most people here disagree about other types of adoption.

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EDIT:

A good example of TPR:

I was 8 when my parent's rights were terminated.  When I was 22 I asked for my foster records.  I was only given certain information (which is another story), but needless to say the LAST information they had on my bio-parents was from when I was 8 years old.  That was the end.  When they lost their rights, they no longer were legally a part of my life.

Answer 3

Once all of your training is done, it took us about 8 weeks a couple of hours a week, and after our home-study was done, it was about three weeks after that and we got our first set of foster children.  After a relinquishment / TPR then their is a goodbye visit...very emotional, very emotional...then, sadly no more visits.

Answer 4

We just finished last month adopting our little girl, who was a foster child since 3 months old.  Times vary on how long you will wait.  I am in CA, and they are not putting many kids in foster care right now.  Sending them back home or with relatives.  But, we waited about 1 1/2 months for our first placement.  They were with us 10 days.   A month later, we got our little girl that is now ours (she just turned 2).  Chances are better for adopting foster kids if they are abandoned or if there was severe abuse (as was the case with our daughter).  Our agency also does special health care needs kids, which are more likely to go up for adoption as well.

If they lose their rights, visits stop also.

Answer 5

My husband and I are foster parents as well and I have a similar situation to yours:

We are really wanting to adopt a child through the foster care system...but it's very important to remember that at any time, the child in your care could be moved, placed for adoption into another family, and that the relatives of that child will be given "dibs" on the care of the child once the parental rights have been relinquished.  Also, if the child is not the same race as the foster parents, that presents even more obstacles because they are hesitant to adopt out children to different racial families for some reason (even when it's been made clear that the heritage will be preserved).

My husband and I started orientation in November of 2007.  We finished the orientation 2 weeks later (going 2 nights a week for 2 weeks) and then we got the initial paperwork and medical checks and stuff which we finished and handed in on Dec. 10th.  Then we waited until the next educational seminar which was in March.  After that seminar our checks had finally all come back and they called us to do our home study.  The home study took 2 weeks (3 meetings) to complete and then another 2 weeks to write up the report.  This brought us to late April.  We signed our license on Tuesday, April 29th.  On Thursday of the same week placement called us, and we got our precious little baby girl on Friday (May 2nd).  

She is already a permanent ward but because she is not the same race as us, they have not allowed us to proceed with an adoption as of yet, and there is still a chance they could move her to a home with her "own people".  This would break my heart as my entire family has really grown to love this little girl over the past 4 months.  

Be careful and guard your heart.  Fostering is not a back door to adoption.

Answer 6

Congratulations on starting this journey.  These kids are difficult - more difficult than you will ever realize even after the training.

If the child's parents lose their rights, it's up to you as the adoptive parent to decide about visitation.  My kids have no contact because the birth mom is so unstable and doesn't understand that she terminated her rights.

In our case, our first social worker didn't find any kids to place us with - even after we found our kids on our own.  Our next social worker found some immediately.  The social workers don't look at you as parents and how long you've waited.  When they get a kid, they find the best possible family match for that kid.  Sooooo, you could wait quite some time if you're only interested in a certain acuity level (like you want a single toddler with no problems).  Or your phone could ring off the hook if you can take older kids, kids with more severe problems, or a group of kids.  The more challenging the kids are, the sooner you will have a placement.

Answer 7

We fostered and eventually adopted in Texas.  While the foster system has problems, I believe that the vast majority of people feel you are doing a good thing.  These children really do need good homes, and I feel it is the best way to adopt.

Our foster parent certification and training took about 4 months.  Classes were once a week for a couple of months.  It would have taken less time but other events in our life (a move, an injury, etc) delayed things.  

We had asked to be considered only for younger (under 5) children, and were willing to take siblings.  It took about a year before we were given two boys, brothers, to foster.  They had been removed from their mother because of drug abuse and neglect issues and the boys were categorizes as 'legal risk', e.g. the case workers believed there was a greater than 50% chance parental rights were going to be terminated.  

About 5 months after, parental rights were terminated and we were asked if we wanted to adopt.  We said yes and the adoption was finalized a few months after that.

So, from the first certification class to finalized adoption took about 2 years.  Based on my discussion with others who have done the same, two years is pretty typical.  However, that can be more or less depending on where you live and how open/restricted are your preferences.  If you are interested in taking 'harder to adopt' (i.e. older, minority, sibling groups) or special needs kids it might take less than a year, but infants, white children, and other 'popular' categories might take much longer.

Answer 8

Congradulations!!!

It took us two weeks to get our licacne and 3 day latter the home study and finger printing was done 5 hours latter 2 children.  Then 3 weeks latter a infant that tpr has now started on. If you email me I will tell more/

Answer 9

I AM WANTING TO TO THAT ALSO BUT ALILLTE WORRIED ABOUT IT I DONT THICK I COULD HAVE THE KID SAY A LITTLE WILL AND THEN HAVE TO LEAVE ME IS THAT HOW IT WORKS AND WERE ARE YOU FROM AND HOW DO YOU GET IN TO THAT I AM NOT SURE WERE TO GO HELP PLEASE