Adoption and foster care questions.?

Question

I am interested in both becoming a foster parent and adopting a child. I realize all laws in different states are different. I live in ohio. But i was wondering genrally what are the rules on the age you have to be to become a foster parent/adoptive parent and also if there is an income requirement for either.

Answer 1

I live in Ohio, and there is a girl down the street from me who is a single mom and babysits about 3 kids per week. That is her income. She does foster care and says that the foster care is part of her job.... Not sure if she is doing it for the right reasons but I know that she didn't have much money prior to starting foster care. She also lives in a trailer so she doesn't have much room. You can call Department of Children Services in the county that you live in and they will be able to give you all the information that you are looking for. You can also get their website on-line and they usually have all the information on the site.

Answer 2

I am a foster parent in Illinois.  I'm sure the rules are all different in different states.  In Illinois, you need to be at least 18, make enough money to support your family (no specific income guidelines), have a separate bedroom with a door for foster children, and the desire to truly help children.  Foster parenting is very challenging burt also very rewarding.  Good luck.

Answer 3

We are foster parents and we hope to adopt in the near future (we're actually waiting on final approval for a 12 yo boy in another state!).

I did a quick search for Ohio Social Services and found this:

http://jfs.ohio.gov/families/foster_care...

I hope that helps you with Ohio's regulations.  

If you want to chat about anything, please feel free to email me.  [e-mail]

Another good resource is adoption.com.  Check out the forums.   They are the best ones that I have found b/c they have people from every side (foster parents, adoptive parents, birth parents, adult adoptees, etc) and they are really good about being non-judgemental.  The foster boards don't have a lot of activity yet but its getting more popular.  There are some other foster care forums but I like adoption.com best.

Answer 4

The agency I work with requires their foster parents to be 25, but that is older than most agencies require.  I would find an agency near you and just call them and ask what their requirements are.  That would be the first step.  After that, you will have a better idea of what you need to do.  After my husband and I decided to start the process, we had to do trainings, have a home study done, etc.  That process gave us even more information about what being a foster parent is like, so if you aren't old enough yet (according to your local agency's rules), you may still want to see if you can go to some of the trainings to see what you can learn.

Answer 5

In Wisconsin you have to be 21 to foster or adopt. And to adopt, if your married, you have to be married 2 or more years. Income isn't a big thing for either. just enough to support a family.  It is rather exoensive to adopt but by doing foster/adopt it is just about free.