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Adopting a Child from Foster Care
Right now, there are thousands and thousands of children who in the foster child adoption system waiting for a adoptive family. The parental rights of these children have permanently been terminated and there is NO possibility that the child will EVER be returned to their birth home. Often when families think of adopting a child, they visualize an infant or toddler, not an older child or sibling group. On average children in foster care that need a family are at least eight years of age or part of a sibling group of two or more. Imagine being ten years old and not having a mother or father to count on or not knowing if or when you’ll have to move to yet another home. Some of the children waiting in foster care for adoption are wonderful students, participants in school sports and other activities, and have no needs other than their age, membership in a sibling group or race.
There is often a misconception that adopting a child that is school-aged will be more difficult or will have challenging behaviors that may not fit into an existing family. In actuality, they are children in the foster care system that may have emotional, behavioral, or medical needs but not all fall into one of these categories. As an adoptive family you would know what the needs of the child are and often, the child has NO needs other than being a member of a sibling group, an older child or teenager.
When you are considering adopting an older child, your agency or law firm WILL provide you with a full written history. It will contain specific information about the child as well as non-identifying information about the birth parent and other birth siblings. Birth parent information may include their age, employment history, IQ, any problems with addiction, as well as why their parental rights were terminated. A full background report will be presented to you and you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions, talk to previous caregivers (foster parents), and current therapists or teachers.
The true benefit of adopting an older child is that all information about what he or she likes or dislikes, what their strengths or weaknesses are and general personality traits are all known. You can match the likes of your families to the child that is placed in your care. Do you like sports, reading or music? Your personality traits will come out in the homestudy process and your agency or law firm will do their best to find a child that needs you.
In additional to background information, you will receive a FULL MEDICAL HISTORY on both the birth parents and child. The reports will include past and current medical information. Children who come from the foster care adoption system come with a medical card that will cover any pre-existing medical conditionals. Your family will be able to use this medical card until the child is 18 years of age or they graduate from high school and it covers general medical care, any type of therapy, dental and vision.
Children from the foster care adoption process is generally done at low or no cost to the adopting family. The adoptive family will actually receive a tax free monthly stipend until the child graduates from high school to help offset the cost of raising the child. Some states will actually help PAY FOR COLLEGE! Your will help you every step of the way during the adoption process and they will help determine for which programs you may be eligible. When you finalize a foster child adoption, you will actually be eligible for an Adoption Tax Credit of $11,650.00 for each child that you adopt. This means that you will get a refund of taxes up to that total prorated over a five year period!
When you consider adopting a child, think about a child that REALLY needs a home. When a child turns eighteen and they were never adopted, the child becomes HOMELESS. Two-thirds of the males will be arrested and 40% of the females will become pregnant within the first year. Often, children born to these women will also fall back into the system. Opening your home to a school-aged child will reward you in a multitude of ways for a lifetime.
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