Foster-Adoption
- Category Overview
Foster/Adoption, also known as fost/adopt, is the process of fostering a child through the foster care system with the intent to adopt the child in the future. To be a fost/adopt parent, a foster parent certification process is required.
Fost/adopt is truly a ministry that tugs on your heart. In fost/adopt, you are helping a child who is totally unwanted. Foster children are children in an abusive/neglected situation that they have no control over. Foster children have parents who have either made serious mistakes in judgment that would harm their child or are simply just unwanted. They are not only unwanted by their own parents but they are also unwanted by their grandparents, aunts, uncles and EVERY relative in their family, if there are other relatives around. To be able to come alongside that child, bring them into a safe and loving environment and be given a chance to adopt them in the future is a something that is truly a blessing.
In April 2008, there were 2,813 children in the foster care system in Orange County. While most were reunified with their families and only spend a short time in foster care, others will need adoption. 54% live with relatives, 21% are in Foster Family Agency homes, 10% were in County Licensed homes, and 9% of OC foster children were in group homes. There is a great need for Christian families to be foster parents as nationally, over 70% of people in prison were previously in the foster care system! - Requirements / Qualifications
The eligibility requirements to be a fost/adopt parent is anybody over age 21 with no maximum age limit. The health requirement is to “be in good physical and mental health.” And although there is no marriage requirement, if you are married, you need to have been married for at least one year. For any life changing event (marriage, birth of child, moving to a new home), there is a one-year minimum waiting period before the certification process can begin. If an event occurs and you are already certified as a fost/adopt parent, there will be no suspension of certification.
When a foster parent is certified, a profile of their desired child characteristics is submitted to the agency. These characteristics include: gender, age, race, drug exposure, mental capacity, and abuse exposure. The agency will then seek to match a child with their profile. An intake worker contacts the parents and discusses the child with them. The parents are then given a window of time, normally 24 hours, to make a decision, and they can always say “no”. Social workers advise not to accept too hurriedly for fear of yet another failed placement for the child. The more placements, the more it affects the child negatively. She feels unwanted, different, bad, etc. - Process
The length of the process to become certified as a fost/adopt parent really depends on the parent. The process can be as short as 2 months or as long as one year, the variation usually due to training class schedules. The process to become certified to serve as a fost/adopt parent includes a clinical interview, 30 hours of training classes, CPR/first aid certification, childproofing your house, fingerprinting and car inspections. Once certified, the parent must continue to be certified on a yearly basis by taking 15 hours of training classes. If parents complete the adoption process and do not want to foster any more children, they no longer need to take the classes. The cost for certification includes everything outside of class trainings. This can normally be done for under $200.
When a foster child is in the home, the family receives reimbursement checks from the foster family agency or the county. Once the child is removed, the reimbursement ceases. This is not considered income so there is no need to report it come tax season. The amount received varies depending on the age of the child. - Commitment Level involved
Parents who sign up to be a fost/adopt parent can just be a foster parent and vice versa. But in either case, the commitment level for fost/adopt is very high. The life of the parent and the lives of every member of the immediate family will change because of the presence of a foster child.
After certification, technically, the foster parent can immediately accept a child into their home. Parents may, however, wait a few months until the agency is able to find a child that matches the parents’ profile. The number of children a parent typically fosters before getting one that they can adopt varies. If the birth parents are working towards reunification then the foster child may not come up for adoption. If the child does come up for adoption, the fost/adopt parents will also need to decide if the foster child is a good fit for their family. Birth parents receive 12 months to show that they want their child back by completing classes, working, attending visits with the child, etc. At that point, the court will decide whether to terminate their rights or to continue with reunification.
The foster parents and social workers are responsible for transporting the foster child to visitations with the birth parents. Foster care workers try really hard to place children near their birth parents to keep them in the same community so the drive is usually very short. If the child is near reunification, there will be more visits. If the case is closer to the termination of parental rights, there will be fewer visits. No two cases are the same. Social workers may transport the child to monitored visits (where there is a third party observing and recording the interaction between child and birth parent), but the foster parent is solely responsible for transportation to unmonitored visits. - Challenges, Barriers, and Misperceptions
Some common fears that the prospective fost/adopt parent may experience may include: fear of the foster child’s behavior, birth parents' involvement and mental stability, receiving a child/children with drug/alcohol exposure during pregnancy, children not able to coexist with other siblings, and the foster child not being accepted by extended family. One more challenge is being in a constant state of uncertainty of whether the child will be finally available for adoption. Even if a child is considered “low-risk” (most likely to be adopted), there are plenty of cases in which that child is returned to the birth parents.
A common misperception that people have is that “love is enough” to turn a foster child around into a well-adjusted and obedient child. Foster children have so many losses and hurts that they do not function as birth children do. There are many reasons for them to distrust adults, for they have been hurt by them all their lives. They sometimes view social workers as evil for taking them away from birth parents, beloved foster parents, and other caretakers. It takes much prayer, patience and perseverance to break down all the walls they have put up to guard their hearts.
One thing that we have learned from being a foster parent is that loving foster children is not always an easy task. Foster children come to each family with their own unique set of issues, and as with all children and people, they are fallen by nature. In the foster or fost/adopt situation the foster parent’s unconditional love for the child is an example of the love God shows to us as sinful children. There is no corporal punishment allowed, but there is a wealth of other ways to discipline.
When a foster child’s negative behavior lashes out, he is difficult to love. Loving your own birth children is easier because they were taught and disciplined by you. A foster child has had little stability and perhaps no discipline at all. Therefore, the behavior is worse and difficult to temper. Through those dark times you learn one thing: Our Lord’s love for us sinners is AMAZING. If it is so difficult for a foster parent to love a foster child, how much more difficult would it be for the Lord to love a sinful adult? But not only does our Lord love this sinful adult, the Lord loves all people. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16. This love from our Lord is truly AMAZING. It is remarkable that God would choose to love us and that HE would send His Son to die for us. It is truly humbling to know that our Lord guarantees our salvation to all those who believe. - Next Step...
For more information, contact Jeremy & Michelle Yang. You may also contact Olive Crest Foster and Adoption Agency to learn more information at: www.olivecrest.org. Olive Crest is a Christian Foster Family organization. Another Orange County foster family agency that also oversees adoptions is the Kinship Center. Visit its website at: www.kinshipcenter.org.
