What do you know about foster-adoption in your state/country?

Question

How does it work in your state or country? Do you support adoption for children currently in foster care? If so, under what circumstances. If not, what do you believe is a better solution?

Approximately 80% of the children in foster care have a parent with a serious drug problem. Sadly, children are not removed from neglectful or abusive situations until a parent is arrested.

Parents are provided with a minimum of 18 months of family reunificatioon services, which can include rehab services, parenting classes, public assistance, etc. Sometimes the services are extended to 2 or 2 & 1/2 years. In some cases, the children remain with their parents while the family receives services.

If parents failed to complete the family reunification plan, the children remain in foster care. In some cases, parental rights are terminated, allowing the children to be adopted if/when adoptive parents are available. Efforts are made to keep siblings together.

I support foster-adoption.

Answer 1

I support foster adoption but feel the system still needs some reform.  NJ DYFS tried to remove our son from the bio family as they were making a private adoption plan for him.  When they found out that the bio family was not going to proceed with the rehab services, NJ DYFS tried to "claim" the child stating that he was a "Caucasian infant so he was a hot commodity".  I was appalled at the system.

We also struggled with MD foster care because when our son's sister was born a year later (in Maryland this time), the bio grandparents were contacted about taking kinship care of her also.  They asked the social worker if our son had a right to live with his sister and wanted to give them our phone number to contact us about becoming her parents.  The caseworker told them that our son had NO RIGHTS and hung up on them.  We tried contacting MD foster care because we wanted them to be aware of our son's genetic disorder and to make sure the sister was tested, but they refused to talk to us or the bio grandparents again.  

So, while I do support foster care adoptions, and I do believe that the children there need to be adopted, I also believe that some of the states need better reform in their programs.  

I'd also like to say that I know that not everyone has had the same horrible experience as we had and I hope that my story does not discourage others from at least considering foster adoption.

Answer 2

In Oregon, parents are only provided with 6 months of services...or 6 months to get it "together" before parental rights are terminated.  Most children taken from parents at birth are "available" for adoption before their first birthday.

Answer 3

Yes I support adoption for children in foster care if it is in the best interest of the child.  Every case is different and thorough assessments should be made before a final decision is made.  I also believe that if the child is old enough to make a decision about adoption then they should be able to do so.

In Ca parents have a MAXIMUM of 18 months to reunify.  Parents are given an option of 6, 12, or 18 months depending on the age of the child(ren) and progress of the parent.  If the time has reached 18 months and the parents have not demostrated the ability to reunify with their child(ren) then an alternative plan is made i.e. long term foster care, relative placement, or adoption.

Every family situation, abuse situation, and child is different and it is a case by case basis.  Our state's child welfare system is constantly going through reform by attempting to instill Best Practices, Evidence-Based Practice, and hiring social workers with college education and training.  Also the counties are consistently going through case reviews and evaluations on practices.  There are many good social workers who work with the best interest of the family, foster parents, and children; but unfortunately there are the few bad social workers who abuse their power and authority over families for whatever unknown reason that drives that behavior.  

Also, when you say that children are not removed from neglectful and abusive situations until a parent is arrested may be inconsistent.  In my county, as well as many others, the social worker does not have the authority to detain a child-only law enforcement does.  Also if you detain a child and don't have enough evidence to prove in court that you had a reason to detain then it might not hold up in court-even if you know you are 100% sure the abuse is occurring.