The first step is training. 24 hours of training (8 3-hour classes) are required for all parents hoping to adopt a foster child. This is the same training required for foster parents and for relatives caring for a child that has come into state care. So far all the classes I?ve attended have been a mix of all three alternative care provider types, with relative care providers making up the largest group.
The training primarily covers the various reasons children end up in foster care to begin with and some information about how to cope with their affects. Licensed foster parents are required to have an additional 30 hours of training every two years to better train them on how to meet the specific needs of the children in their care. Adoptive parents aren?t required any additional training, but if more training is needed to support an adoptive child, DHS does have additional classes as part of their post-adoption services.
Once training is complete, the next step is the Home Study. Part of the Home Study does involve a social worker visiting the home and confirming that it is a safe environment to raise a child. They look at things like number of bedrooms and existing family dynamics to determine how many children could potentially be placed in the home. But the larger focus of the home study is for the social worker to figure out what type of parents you would be and what type of child you could best parent. Personal interviews, background checks, and reference checks are all included in the home study process.
The final result of the home study is a report written by the adoption social worker about the adoptive family. This report (called the ?Home Study?) is then made available to the children?s social workers. Adoptive parents and foster children have two separate groups of social workers. Before I move onto the next step, of child matching, I guess I should back up and explain the process the kids have gone through up to this point.
When a child is removed from their home and placed in protective custody, the biological parents are given 14 months to take care of themselves, clean up their act, and get their kids back. This often involves things like drug/alcohol treatment, parenting classes, addressing safe living environment issues, etc. If after 14 months, the biological parents haven?t proven to a judge that they are capable of caring for their children, parental rights are formally removed and alternative permanent placement is considered (i.e. adoption).
Placing a child with a relative is always considered the best option when a suitable relative is available. Both during the first 14 months, and after parental rights are terminated, the state does everything they can to keep children in their relatives care. This is why the majority of the people in my training classes are relative placement care providers who are already caring for their grandchildren, nieces, or nephews. Unfortunately, not all children have relatives capable of providing them with a safe place to live. These are the children that then become legally free for adoption (about 10% of all children who enter state care).
Once a child is legally free for adoption, their social worker starts sifting through adoption Home Study?s looking for a suitable set of parents. At the same time, the adoption social workers assigned to the parents are sifting through child case files looking for children to match with their potential parents. Once up to three potential parent placements have been identified, a third party review board looks at all three Home Studies and the child?s case file and determines what family they believe is most capable of meeting the needs of the child.
Because this process is focused on finding the best parent for a child, not the best child for a parent, it is possible for parents to be considered for multiple children before a child is placed in their home. There are a lot of kids in need of permanent homes though, so eventually all potentially adoptive parents with an approved Home Study are matched with a child.
Once a family is matched with a child, they begin visitation. The parents and child meet for a few short visits before leading up to an overnight visit and eventually the transition out of the foster home and into the adoptive home. Even after the child is placed in the home, there is an on-going transition period that can take anywhere from 6 months to a year before the custodial rights are moved from the state to the adoptive parents.
So that?s what I?m going through. I?m currently in the middle of the training portion of this process. You can look forward to lots more detailed accounts of what I?m dealing with at each step along the way.
Source: http://www.katescottwrites.com/2013/01/adoption-process.html
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