Adoption from foster care may be appealing
because it allows you the time to determine if the child in your care is the
right child for you.
The foster parent system is usually
a state-wide program that places at-risk children in the homes of people who
have expressed an interest in caring for children, have undergone a rigorous
personal review (similar to a home study) and have been trained in management
of children in transition.
Foster parents are provided a subsidy for each child
that comes into their care. They are often given first preference for foster
children that become legally available for adoption. Foster parents tend to be
the most successful in adopting infants.
A difficult issue for foster
parents who want to adopt is that the goal of foster parenting is to support
the reunification of the original family. You may not be able to make a
wholehearted commitment to that goal if your own motivation is adoption. You
may also face the possibility that a child you really want to adopt never
becomes legally available for adoption.
Some states have “foster-to-adopt”
programs. These programs place children with a high likelihood of being
available for adoption with foster parents who have declared a desire to adopt.
There is still the risk of return to the biological family but these children
are vetted more closely and have a much higher probability of being adopted.
The costs associated with adopting
from the foster care system are usually quite low.
