What is the difference between adopting a child if they are legally free or if they are at legal risk?

Question

Is adopting a child from dss that is legally free harder than adopting a legal risk child? Which process is longer?

Answer 1

Legal risk=the child's parents' rights haven't been terminated; the goal is usually still reunification.

Legally free=the child's parents' right have already been terminated; there's no chance of the child going back to the biological parents.

You can do either type. If you want a baby or toddler, you'll almost definitely have to do legal risk. If you're willing to adopt an older child, you should have no problem adopting one that is already legally free for adoption.

Good luck.

Answer 2

In Texas when a child is legally free that means parental rights have already been terminated.  If the child is a legal risk, that means they believe the rights are going to be terminated, but they haven't been already, and there is a risk that they won't be.  A child that is a legal risk would be harder to adopt and the process will be longer because you will have to wait for parental rights to be terminated before you adopt, also there is a chance that parental rights won't actually be terminated and the child could go back to their parents.

Answer 3

I adopted my son when he was 6 weeks old and he was a legal risk due to the fact the birth mother had no clue who the father was. It did take a lil longer because i had to wait for the courts to terminate his legal rights. They did this by placing it in the news paper. Its a 2 step process. Fist they say the birth mothers name and to inform whom ever she had a baby. Its in the paper for two weeks. Then after that they put in the paper that the child is going to be adopted and asked if their is a family member or himself to come forward and they have until a certain date. If that date comes and no one answers the rights are then taken and they are free to adopted.

Answer 4

I have not done foster care, but since you have no other answers I thought I would chime in with how I think it goes. From what I've heard from other foster/adopt parents, a child who is legally free means that the rights of the biological parents have been terminated and the child is legally free to be adopted by you. A child at legal risk means that the rights of the bio parent(s) has not yet been terminated and the child could be sent back to their parent(s) at some point. You would not be able to adopt that child until the point that termination of parental rights happened. I am pretty sure that a child legally free would be easier/faster than a child who is at legal risk, but you may want to verify all of this with your social worker since I am no expert on this.

Answer 5

Look in Texas they don't care the adopted couple signed not one both 2 high risk form and they still got away with stealing my grandson. The adoption agency was told who the father was and that he wouldn't sign the papers giving up his child, so what they did is hid the child from the father never answering  him in court who had his son and drawing out the court case. It was 16 long months before he found out where is son was and get this the adoption agency tryed to get his rights termated for not supporting his son when he didn't know where he was (didn't work) but hidding the child did.  they used best interest and the couple got to keep him but not adopt him and the father did not get termated of his rights get visitaion with his son some 14  hundrend miles away. Sad thing is this couple knew about the father and didn't care and the father is still praying his son will be returned so the father and small sister which is 4 from the same mother can be a family. Ask question about the father make sure you are not being lied to. As far as the couple who has my grandson if things don't get over turn you are really going to have to explain this one day

BY the way the father was not on drugs, or in jail or a dead beat. just a father wanting to raise his son

Answer 6

Trying to adopt a child who is a legal risk ususally means that the childs  parents rights have not been terminated.  Legally free children have no legal ties with their bio families any longer as the rights have been terminated.