Foster Care Adoption

When a foster child cannot be returned to his or her birth parents, it is the responsibility of state and local agencies to find a permanent home for the child. One of the most obvious solutions is for the child to be adopted by his or her foster parents. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Children's Bureau, in 2005 (the most recent year for which data is available) approximately 514,000 children were in foster care in the United States, and more than 115,000 of those children were waiting to be adopted. As a foster parent who is considering adoption, or a prospective parent considering the adoption of a child in foster care, here are some legal issues to be aware of.

Several key factors differentiate foster-child adoptions from traditional adoptions. First, foster-care adoptions are usually handled by state agencies, though the state may outsource responsibilities to a private agency. Also, foster-care adoptions cost significantly less than traditional adoptions, or may even be free. If the child is considered a "special needs" child, subsidies may be available. (Special needs children include those who are: minorities; have siblings who also need adopting; were exposed to drugs or alcohol before they were born; are older than 5; or have mental, physical or emotional problems.) In addition, you may qualify for a federal adoption-tax credit.

There are several ways in which prospective parents can adopt foster children. Prospective parents can:

•Adopt a child or group of siblings whose parents have already relinquished their parental rights or had those rights terminated.
•Take in a foster child whose biological parents still have rights. The foster parents agree, in advance, to adopt the child if he or she isn't reunited with the parents or placed with another biological family member. This type of adoption is called "concurrent planning" because multiple avenues of resolution are being pursued simultaneously.
•Adopt a child who was placed with you as a foster child, but whom you didn't originally intend to adopt.