How do you adopt through foster care?

Question

Do you have to be a foster parent to adopt through foster care? If you arent a foster parent but want to adopt a child in foster care, how do you go about doing it? Any info or advice is welcome!

Answer 1

Contact your local social services agency and inquire there. Typically you become a foster parent and keep that child while the parents try to complete their services. If it is deemed that the child cannot return home and there isn't family then the parents rights are usually terminated and the child's goal is changed to adoption. If you are fostering this child then you should have the first option to adopt the child. The parents usually appeal so this can be a long drawn out process, but if you are serious it can be wonderfully rewarding!! Good-luck!

Answer 2

In most states that I know of, you do need to be a foster parent in order to adopt through the foster care system. First, find a private agency that has a foster to adopt program. Or, contact your local state agency.  You will need to go through a 9 week foster parent class that may or may not include an adoption class.  The big advantage to going this route is that it is MUCH LESS expensive.

Answer 3

I am from nj and just adopted 3 children all in the year 2007. I am a foster parent and yes you need to be one first. You must be licensed first. I not sure of your state laws but nj has a law that there must be a permanency for the child in one year now from the time they are taken from parents. Either adoption, return home, or family member. I have fostered for 8 years now and only in the last 2 years i have been asked to adopt. Its a perfect amount of time to see if the child is right for you home and your family.  It's a wonderful experience and I am done now and just enjoying my new family. You can also choose the age of the children you want, s*x. and race. I have raised three of my own children which are all on their own now, three foster children also on their own now and the new 3 i adopted and now have a wonderful family with 9 children all of which i call mine and love them totally. If your asking go for it. There are a lot of children in need of wonderful families just waiting for love. good luck. just take your time i went through a therapeutic foster care and i felt that was the best for me, the children had lots of counseling and lots of support. and i would ask them as many questions as i can.

Answer 4

yes you must be foster care certified to adopt thru foster care. Thats why its called foster/adopt.  You become a foster parent and they try to place with with you only the kids that they believe might be coming up for adoption.  Call your local social services.

Answer 5

There are various ways.  First, you decide if you want to use an agency or go straight through DHS.  You'd have to pay an agency for the homestudy, but it's not nearly as much as adopting an infant, or an international adoption.  If you have DHS do your homestudy, it's free.  If you decide to use an agency, you can find out which local agencies contract with DHS by calling either the agencies themselves, or DHS.

Then, you decide if you want to become a foster parent first.  If you choose to foster/adopt, then you need to come to terms with the fact that you don't get nearly as much information about the children before you adopt, and that you could lose the children with no notice.  Some of these kids' stories are absolutely heart-wrenching, and it can be very difficult to see the child you thought was "yours" be returned to his/her parents, especially if you thought that wasn't the plan.  However, if you don't foster, you could have a longer wait.  (Personally, I'm all right with the long wait because I'm learning so much...I'd rather have this valuable self-reflection time, and time to learn about adoption, than to have a speedy placement and not be fully prepared.)

Good luck!

ETA:  I guess it's different state by state.  We don't have to foster before adopting.  Check with your local DHS and ask them.