Does anyone have any experiance with an adoption thruough DHR?

Question

were looking to become foster parents through dhr were the child will legally become yours in 30 days through court services.just wanted to get some information we cant contact the office before monday because no one will be there.thanks for any help

Answer 1

I hate to say this but I think your friends are setting you up for some high expectations that just arent true.  Not state that I have ever heard of works that fast.  Families have to be given the chance to work out their problems and get their children back.  Before you can even become a foster parent you have to take a 30 hour course according to the Alabama state website, during that i am sure that you will be fingerprinted and a background check will be done on you and your husband to make sure that you aren't pediphiles, or have criminal backgrounds, also you will have to have health checks and other things done. Also I am curious what is the big rush to adopt, there are not a lot of babies in the systems, babies that are in the systems are often placed with experienced foster parents, so if a young child is placed with you and in 30 days how will you know for sure that that specific child with all of the issues that comes along with a foster child will be the right child for you,  some children have trust issues, some have been sexually abused and act out in ways you cannot even imagine, others are withdrawn and do not now how to respond to love, some are so angry that they just sit and beat their heads against the walls... trust me I know, I am the oldest of 10 kids, 7 of them adopted and I have seen all sorts of problems.  but as they get older we are eventually getting them all worked out and each one of these kids have been with us since ander 3 years of age and it took us at least 3 years to adopt.... i have included links to Alabamas website on foster care as well as their minimium requirments for a foster or adoptive home so that you may get them  and read them before you go ahead with this

btw i am also a foster parent too

Answer 2

I'm a foster parent who has been licensed in SC and IL. I'm also a foster care licensing worker. In all 50 states it is required that foster children live in the home of a pre-adoptive parent for at least six months. That's just the way it is. Having said that, if you get all of your paper work done, your home study done and everything submitted yo your adoption attorney by the time 6 months is up you can get the adoption done quick.  In our case, we had the adoption finalized within 4 weeks after the 6 months were up. By the way, you realize that you have to become a licensed foster parent (at least when you go through the state) before you can adopt. The Pride training takes about 9 weeks. Good luck!

Answer 3

I was adopted through my state DHR. I've done some reading and research on fostering (because I'm interested in it). I was also educated in the area of social services. My impression from what you said is that Alabama must have a bit of a different system than most states. I've never heard of anything like that.

Foster homes are typically temporary placements for the children. The foster children sometimes go back to their biological families and sometimes get placed for adoption. This process usually takes a long time as the state works through the family's issues and determines whether or not the family can get the child back. If the child is placed for adoption, I have heard that in some cases the foster parents adopt them. Sometimes not.

In order to become a foster parent, in most states, one must take months of classes, have a background check, a home study and go through a bunch of stuff like that. This process also takes a long time.

Adoption, on the other hand, is not a temporary thing. It has all the benefits of biological families, legally. There are also home studies and background checks, etc. involved

In my case, I was in foster care for the first 6 months of my life. At that time I became available for adoption and my adoptive family adopted me. So, I was in one home (the foster home) for 6 months and then was moved to my adoptive (permanent) home. So, I'm not sure if I've misunderstood you situation or maybe this is something new or how your state does it. I'm nowhere near Alabama so maybe it's unique to them. It sounds like a good program. I know I wasn't much help about your question but I wish you all the best with your adoption.

Answer 4

The process does not work like that.

YOu can contact them on Monday and start the application.  After a homestudy, background check, etc. the social worker will determine if you are suitable for adopting a child.

A child will be placed with you-you can request to accept only children that are already legally free for adoption (might take longer for placement) or it might be one that is not yet free for adoption and will be  your foster child until s/he becomes free, at which time you can adopt (but in this case, the child may be returned to the parent rather than released for adoption).

After a trial period (and often, with older children there will be meetings to get to know each other before they are placed in your home) of living together, you can file to adopt.  It is usually about a year later before the adoption is finalized (assuming that the child you were placed was legally free for adoption from the beginning).

I know of NO state where the child is yours within 30 days...for the sake of the waiting children, I wish it was that simple.