Foster-to-adopt is a situation where the fostering parent with a child (children) adopts the child (children) in their care. Before we continue, let’s define a few terms to put things in perspective:
Foster care is when they temporarily place a child (children) in the care of a foster parent.
Adoption is when a parent legally takes in a child to be theirs permanently. In doing this, they take up the full responsibility of parenting the child as the natural parent would.
Now, let’s get back to foster-to-adopt. The most recent study has revealed that “there are about 400,000 children in foster care in the United States of America, with boys having more population than girls and about 120,000 of them are waiting to be adopted.”
This means that the parents of these children have not taken enough steps to amend what took their children out of their homes. So, the children are in a situation where on one hand, they have not placed them for adoption, and on the other, they are not old enough to leave foster care. So, further explaining foster-to-adopt is a family taking in one of these children temporarily as a foster parent, watching over them and catering for their needs. Then if the foster parents decide to adopt and meet the adoption requirements, they can file for permanent parenting of the child.
This model helps parents acquaint themselves with what parenting is, gaining first-hand experience. Also, it helps build parent and child relationships. This way both parties are fully aware of one another. The agency would check if the adopting parents have both the environmental and financial ability to raise a child (children). The goal of fostering a child is to reconcile the child to birth parents.
Now, here are the steps to take to successfully foster-to-adopt a child
1.) Research the nearest foster care agency around you or in your state. When you find it visit their websites to find their contact information with which you inquire about their requirements to become a foster parent.
2.) Next, you follow the fostering care agency laid out registration process to earn a license. This process includes taking training, background checks, parenting sessions, and more.
3.) Once you have gone through the process and got your license, the next thing is to accept a child into your foster care.
The goal of fostering is to prepare the child for reuniting with their birth parents. So, the job of these foster homes is to help and train the child for this transitioning. The foster parent should know the child might not stay with them forever. This is what some people call a disadvantage with foster-to-adopt, that having taken care of the child, investing financially and emotionally into the child, they might still take the child from you. Well, the reason for volunteering as a foster home in the first place is to help the child. So, settle it in your mind if you are going to sign up for a foster-to-adopt program you are doing it to help the child. Although in most scenarios the fostering parent, adopts the child.
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