The process of adopting a baby can be expensive, so it is important to know the upfront costs. Many adoptions involve a lawyer or other intermediary, as well as a public or private adoption agency. Additional expenses include fees for pre-adoptive counseling, identifying a child, placement fees and post-placement visits. Adopting a baby through the foster care system, however, can save a person thousands of dollars and provide a family with a child to love and care for.
Foster Care Adoption
In most states foster parents are eligible to adopt foster children ages 0 to 12 if reunification with the natural, birth family is not possible. In most cases, the costs to adopt through the foster care system are minimal. Generally, the state department of human services pays for adoption legal fees, as well as the health insurance, generally Medicaid, the child will receive until they are 18 years old. In addition, depending on the adoptive family's financial stability, a monthly subsidy can be provided for a child's future education, support and overall care. Subsidy amounts are based on the child's mental, physical and developmental needs.
Process of Foster Care Adoption
Researching the foster care system is an important step in considering adoption. Doing so will help you learn about the typical child in the system. You should be open and willing to accept the fact that you may not get the perfect infant as he may have difficult developmental, mental or physical needs, and may be of a different racial background than your family. Contact your state's foster care agency to find out about the process of adopting a child through the system. You should then receive an information package in the mail, which will provide you with more information about adoption, foster care, and how they are linked. The information you will receive will instruct you to attend parenting classes in your area. The instructional classes will cover which type of children your family thinks would be a good a match. You will be able to take into account a child's age, their race, their gender, and any behavioral problems they have. During your instructional training you will undergo background checks to ensure that you will provide a safe environment for the child to live in. After a background check, you will be assigned a social worker, who will assess your home and all members of your family whom the child will have contact with. The social worker's review can take three to six months to complete. After a family or person has been approved for adoption, they will be able to look through the profiles of children within the criteria they decided upon while in training. Following a review, you will then decide if the child you've chosen is a match by having pre-placement visits with them. The social worker will remain in contact with you after the child moves into your home, and through the court appointed date that will make the adopt legal. In addition, families can receive post-adoption support from social services for up to 18 months to ensure a healthy transition for all parties.
Benefits of Foster Care Adoption
Adoption through the foster care system can benefit not only the adopting family and the baby but also the child welfare agency. Families have the benefit of knowing that they are providing much needed service to children, other families, and society. Most importantly, completing an adoption can ultimately make a family feel complete and uplifted. The adoption agency is responsible for helping children in foster care find safe homes, to reunite them with their natural families if possible or to find them adoptive families. Because this process poses its own set of challenges due to inconsistency in home life and child behavioral problems and needs, it is in an agency's best interest to help find children find permanent, safe homes for healthy and normal attachments and lifestyles.
Benefits for Babies Adopted Through Foster Care
Perhaps the greatest benefit for a baby being adopted through foster care is that they avoid having to be placed with different families on a consistent basis. Infants may grieve the loss of a familiar place, sounds, touch, and most importantly people as they move around. Having a placement in a permanent home means that the child will be able to bond with their family properly, become acquainted and used to the house, apartment or room that they will be living in, and at an old enough age are able to develop friendships, take care of and have pets, and attend school.
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