Читать книгу Adopting Older Children - Stephanie Bosco-Ruggiero - Страница 13
ОглавлениеAdopting Within the United States
UNDERSTANDING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM
“Over the last five years, opinions of foster care adoption improved to be as good, if not better, than those of private domestic infant adoption or international adoption,” according to The Dave Thomas Foundation.1
The number of older children being adopted through the American child welfare system may be increasing in recent decades due in part to a greater awareness among prospective adoptive parents of the need for permanent homes for waiting children; a decrease in the number of infants being placed for adoption and a greater willingness by kinship and family caregivers to legally adopt children in their care. Should you decide to adopt an older child domestically, learn all you can about the American child welfare system, because you will interact with many parts of the system as you go through the adoption process. You will have many choices to make along the way, including what kind of agency to work with, what type of adoption you would like to pursue and the characteristics of the child you would like to adopt.
The American child welfare system emerged from concerns about the lack of protections afforded abused and neglected children. Interestingly, the first child welfare agencies in the United States served both abused children and animals. Over the centuries and in modern times the US child welfare system has grown in complexity.2
The three pillars of the American child welfare system are safety, permanency and well-being. Local and state child welfare organizations are responsible for investigating allegations of abuse and neglect, removing children from the home when they cannot safely stay there, developing case plans for families and finding permanent homes for children when parental rights are terminated. While most child protection work is carried out by public agencies, an increasing number of private agencies are becoming involved in child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment services. Private agencies licensed by the state also commonly deliver foster care and adoption services. Although child protective services largely fall under the jurisdiction of the states (states decide how to administer services and enact child welfare laws and policies), federal legislation has significantly impacted local agencies. States must comply with federal child welfare laws and regulations to receive federal funding for services and programs.3
Public child welfare agencies have come under intense scrutiny by the media. Underfunded in many counties and states, some agencies struggle to provide the best child protection and permanency services possible. Notorious for being overworked and underpaid, many public agency caseworkers and supervisors quickly become discouraged and burn out. The good news is that millions of federal dollars have been invested in child welfare system changes, capacity building and professional development for the child welfare workforce over the past two decades.4 Public funds help support the development of programs by county and state agencies to enhance recruitment and retention of quality child welfare staff. Furthermore, schools of social work have partnered with public child welfare agencies to increase the number of MSWs entering the field and provide agency staff with comprehensive training. Publicly funded programs to help agencies become more “trauma informed” and implement “evidence based practices” have made great strides in improving service delivery in cities, counties and states throughout the country.
Foster parents provide temporary homes for children who cannot live safely with their parents or legal guardians. Many children are placed with relatives, while others are placed with foster parents. In 2012, there were about 400,000 children in foster care at any given time, according to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS 2012).5
When allegations of abuse or neglect are substantiated, parents must follow a case plan if they want to remain with or be reunified with their children. Parents who satisfactorily meet the requirements of their case plan are reunited with their children. In other cases, courts terminate parental rights and children become “legally free” for adoption. In 2012, the case plan for about half of all children in foster care was reunification with parents or guardians while the plan for about a quarter of the children was adoption. Other permanency goals include long-term foster care or guardianship placement with relatives.
Children whose parents’ parental rights have been terminated and are legally free to be adopted are often referred to as “waiting children.” While waiting for a “forever family,” children are most often placed in relative or non-relative foster homes while a small percentage, usually children with severe mental, medical or physical challenges, are placed in group homes or hospitals. Some foster children experience multiple foster placements before they are adopted. Approximately 100,000 children in the United States are waiting to be adopted, according to AFCARS 2012.6
TRUTHS ABOUT OLDER CHILD ADOPTION
Adoption of children from the US foster care system, sometimes referred to as public adoption, has been increasing over the past three decades and accounts for about 40 percent of all adoptions by Americans (the remaining adoptions are of American-born infants voluntarily relinquished by biological parents and international adoptions).7 A majority of older children adopted in the United States are adopted by their foster parents. Not all foster parents adopt children in their care, however—they may be unwilling or unable to make a lifetime commitment to the child. A growing number of foster children are being adopted by family members, due in part to state programs and federal incentives encouraging kinship adoption. In most states, relative caregivers of children removed from their parents have first priority in adoption.8 Some family members prefer legal guardianship to allow the child’s parents a greater measure of involvement in the child’s life. The remaining children adopted out of foster care—many considered “hard to place”—are adopted by persons unrelated to them.
| COMMON MYTHS ABOUT OLDER CHILD ADOPTION | |
| MYTH | FACT |
| Most foster children are juvenile delinquents. | Most foster children are caught up in the child welfare system through no fault of their own. |
| Most older children and teens waiting to be adopted have significant mental health problems and need to live in institutions. | Very few foster children live in institutions and the vast majority function normally. |
| Domestic older child adoption is expensive. | Generally there is no cost to adopting from the public system, and you may receive monthly adoption subsidies. |
| Older teens in foster care don’t need adoptive families; they will do just fine on their own. | Were you able to live independently at sixteen, eighteen or even twenty-one? Teens aging out of foster care without a permanent family face serious lifelong challenges. |
ADOPTIONS FROM THE AMERICAN PUBLIC CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM
It is important that prospective adoptive parents of older American children become familiar with the foster care system, because their future child most likely will have spent time in foster care. Foster care is meant to be a safe place for children but sometimes it does more harm than good if children are moved from home to home or experience maltreatment in a foster home. Children in foster care already have experienced the trauma of being separated from their biological parents. Being moved in and out of foster care homes can aggravate this trauma and cause further emotional and behavioral problems. One adoptive mother told us, “…Regardless of what happened with her first family, I believe the five years bouncing around foster care is what caused [my daughter] the most trauma.” Most children only have one or two foster placements but about 15 percent experience multiple placements. According to AFCARS in 2012, close to 30 percent of all foster children have been in care for more than two years.9 Children who are in foster care for many years are more likely to experience multiple placements.
Children also suffer when they are not integrated in a meaningful way into a foster family. Some foster children describe feeling as if they are little more than house guests. Despite the problems some foster children experience, living with a foster care family can be positive for many children, especially if the foster family is loving and supportive and wants to have a permanent relationship with the child.
Prospective adoptive parents considering adopting a specific foster child should ask questions about how long the child has been in care and what his experience was like. This knowledge will help adoptive parents develop empathy for their child and understand why certain behaviors are manifesting. Pre-adoptive parents may even want to speak to the child’s current and/or former foster parents to get a sense of what type of experience the child had and how well he adjusted to a positive family environment.
FOST-ADOPT
Achieving “permanency” for children is a guiding principle in contemporary child welfare practice. In order of priority, permanency for a child engaged in the system means either reunification with parents or relatives, adoption or long-term foster care. Generally, for older children and teens interested in being adopted, an agency pursues two concurrent tracks toward permanency: reunification with the biological parents or adoption by a foster or relative caregiver. Agencies prefer to license and place children with foster caregivers who are willing to adopt them should they become legally free to be adopted.
Foster adoption, or fost-adopt, programs allow foster parents to adopt a child in their care should that child become legally free for adoption. In many areas, participating in fost-adopt programs is the quickest and surest way to adopt a child. Fost-adopt parents undergo screening, preparation and have to fulfill foster parent licensing requirements. Each state sets its own guidelines about the amount of training and preparation foster parents must receive. Fost-adopt parents receive public subsidies for their service and may receive reimbursements and other benefits to assist in the care of their foster child(ren).
Some prospective adoptive parents decide the best route to adoptive parenthood is through a fost-adopt program; however, foster-adoption is not for everyone. Foster parents must accept the risk that their foster child, whom they may grow to love very much, could be reunified with his or her biological parent(s). Not being able to adopt a beloved foster child can be heart-wrenching, so prospective adoptive parents must understand this risk before entering a fost-adopt program. Some prospective adoptive parents may prefer the fost-adopt route to parenthood, because it can be easier and faster than adopting a legally free child, because they will have time to get to know the child prior to permanently adopting him or because there is a greater likelihood of adopting a baby or toddler. Contact your local or state child welfare agency to learn more about fost-adopt.
WAITING CHILDREN
Think about the background and characteristics of the child you would like to adopt. Educate yourself about the common problems and issues that waiting children may face and think about the types of behaviors or challenges you think you and your family could cope with. As you decide what type of child you would like to adopt, think about or discuss with your partner or spouse the following questions:
• Do I/we want to adopt an elementary-school-age child or a teenager?
• How important are the racial or cultural characteristics of the child?
• Am I/Are we open to transracial and/or transcultural adoption?
• Am I/Are we open to adopting a sibling group?
• Can I/we parent a child with special needs?
• Am I/Are we open to ongoing contact between the child and his/her biological family members?
You will encounter the term “special needs adoption” during your adoption journey. “Special needs adoption” is a designation ascribed to children who are “hard to place” by states. The definition of which children qualify for “special needs adoption” assistance varies by state but may include children over a certain age, children who are part of a sibling group, male children of color, children who are ill or disabled or children who have several mental health or behavioral challenges. States receive federal funding to increase the number of special needs adoptions in that state. Funds may be used to provide additional subsidies and services for adoptive parents. Many foster children and adoption professionals are uncomfortable with the term “special needs adoption” because it can stigmatize older children who truly do not have any special needs but simply have been in the system for a long time.
Since African-American children in foster care wait longest for permanent families, states often designate older African-American children in foster care as “special needs adoption” cases. Because African-American prospective adoptive parents are more likely than prospective parents of other races to adopt African-American children from foster care, there are special recruitment efforts in some states to increase the number of prospective African-American adoptive parents.
Transracial or transcultural adoption may not be the best choice for every family and thus should be carefully considered. Prospective adoptive parents must think about whether they will be able to help a child from a different culture or background connect with their cultural heritage. They also must think about the degree of openness and acceptance of their extended family, the people where they live and whether their child will face serious challenges fitting in or even experience negativity because of his or her race or culture. One couple who adopted a child from the foster system decided transracial adoption was not best for their family:
We were open to white or Hispanic children. I received some anger on an adoption forum when I revealed that we were open to Hispanic children but not African-American. Older child adoption is complicated and difficult. Each family needs to evaluate their strengths and challenges to determine the children they are best suited to parent. Due to prejudices in our small town and extended families, we didn’t feel we would be the best choice for an African-American child. (We were worried) the child would face serious challenges fitting in or facing prejudice.
Families that do decide to adopt a child from a different racial or cultural background must be prepared to handle cultural issues in adoption. Although the prevalence of multicultural and multiracial families has increased over the past twenty years, some families still face prejudices. Children of transracial adoption or interracial unions may still deal with identity issues or wonder where they fit in. Most agencies, especially those that handle international adoption, require parent training on cultural issues in adoption. Parents can also prepare for cultural issues by reading books and articles, speaking to other adoptive families or joining transracial adoption discussion forums. (Read more about multiracial/multicultural adoptive families in chapter 8.)
According to data from the Federal Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS 2012):
• Fifty percent of children in foster care were reunited with their families.
• The average age of children in foster care was nine years old.
• The average age of children waiting in foster care to be adopted was 7.8.
• There were slightly more boys in the system than girls.
• Twenty-two percent of children in foster care were adopted.
• The average amount of time children waited to be adopted from foster care was 34.4 months.10
Despite the increase in older child adoption, too many older children languish in the foster care system for a number of years or age out of the system by the age of eighteen or twenty-one with few or no family or kinship connections. In 2012, 23,000 young adults aged out of the system without being adopted.11 Young adults who age out of the system without permanent family connections are less likely to graduate from high school, attend college, find a secure job or have stable relationships. They are more likely to become homeless, have children at a young age or become involved in criminal activity.
Some prospective adoptive parents may believe older teens are too old to be adopted. They fear older teens will not be able to adapt to a new family or will have ingrained and intractable behavior problems that cannot be addressed. While some older teens will have significant difficulties adapting to a permanent family after so many years “on their own,” for most it is not too late to benefit from having a stable, loving family for a lifetime.
Some teens who have been in foster care for many years also believe they are too old for adoption or that adoption will not make their lives any better. For The Urban Institute, Kate Chambers and colleagues explored some concerns and beliefs teens in foster care have about adoption, including:
• Adoption is only for young children.
• I will lose contact with my friends and biological family.
• I will have to follow too many rules in an adoptive home.
• Independent living will be easier and I’ll be free to do what I want.12
Many older teens in foster care miss out on the opportunity to be placed in a permanent adoptive home because they hold assumptions, many of which could be inaccurate, about what adoption will mean for them. Fortunately, agencies are doing more to convince older teens in foster care that adoption is still an option. Child-centered adoption practices, now being used by many agencies, prioritize the needs and concerns of older children in care. Older teens are asked what type of family would be best for them and the process of matching teens with prospective adoptive families is done with much careful thought and consideration.
CHOOSING AN AGENCY
After deciding to adopt a child from the US foster care system, you will need to choose an agency. First you must decide if you want to work with your public child welfare agency or with a private agency. Public child welfare agencies have the authority to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect, remove children from homes where they are at risk and place children in foster care. They also complete home studies and work with foster and non-foster parents interested in adopting children in care. Private adoption agencies generally are nonprofit (although there are some for-profit agencies out there—avoid them) and do not carry the same child protection responsibilities as public agencies; they do, however, conduct home studies and match prospective adoptive parents with waiting children.
Adoption agencies and organizations must be accredited by the state. To meet higher standards, some obtain voluntary accreditations such as those offered by the Council on Accreditation.
Virginia Volante-Appel, a Denver-based adoption professional with over thirty years of experience, advises prospective adoptive parents to choose an agency carefully. She writes, “Look at accredited agencies that have a good track record, find out what others’ experiences have been with that agency, visit your county and find out about fost-adopt; just learn as much as you can.”
Some of the benefits and disadvantages to working with public versus private agencies are:
In one study conducted by Ramona W. Denby et al, prospective adoptive parents who were comfortable with their agencies and trusted the information that they received from the agencies about waiting children experienced greater stability in their adoptive placements.14 Visit, or communicate by phone, with staff members from several prospective agencies. Agency staff generally will be happy to meet with you and answer any questions you have (if they’re not, don’t work with them).
Ask prospective agencies:
• About parent requirements (e.g. Sexual orientation, marriage status, religious background)
• About their application and pre-adoptive training requirements
• What types of children they place (e.g. Age, race, special needs, sibling groups, etc.)
• What subsidies might be available to you
• How they facilitate the adoptive parent/child match
• What post-placement services they can provide or refer for you
• What their fees are
• For references from several families with whom they have worked
Other adoptive parents can provide you with a wealth of information about specific agencies. Join an online discussion forum for adoptive parents and ask parents which agency they used and how their experience was. Some of the larger forums already have areas for prospective parents looking for agency recommendations.
Co-author Stephanie will never forget a visit she and her husband had with the director of an adoption agency that specializes in older child adoption, at his home. The man took the time to explain the adoption process, was honest about the challenges older adoptees face and the therapeutic services they may need and shared his own inspiring story about adopting a number of older children. One point he made about the need for adoptive parents of teens has stayed with Stephanie. He asked her and her husband to compare the amount of time they spent as children with the amount of time they have been adult children to their parents. Pointing out that time spent as an adult child is equal to, if not longer than, time spent as a child, he then asked in so many words—don’t you need your parents as much when you are an adult, albeit in different ways, as compared to when you were a child? His point was that teens, just as much as younger children, need the guidance of loving parents to see them through young adulthood and to love and support them all through life.
THE APPLICATION PROCESS
Some pre-adoptive parents feel they are being placed under a microscope. They wonder: “Why do I have to go through all this paperwork and preparation to become a parent, when people who are unprepared for parenthood can have children without any kind of evaluation?” Such feelings are understandable, especially when prospective adoptive parents have experienced the heartbreak of infertility or miscarriage. But there is another way of thinking about the situation: Adoptive parents receive guidance and preparation for parenthood that many biological parents never receive. They receive the support of adoption professionals and other adoptive parents. Engaging in the home study process affords adoptive parents time for introspection and time to think about their financial and emotional readiness for parenthood. This is support and preparation from which any parent would benefit.
A mother of four children adopted through her state’s public child welfare system had this advice for pre-adoptive parents beginning the application process: “Take your time. Expect that you will answer the same question many times over. Understand that the bureaucracy that surrounds you during this time is necessary and often helpful in making you take the time you should before making this life-changing decision.”
The next list illustrates major steps in the adoptive process, including common core elements of the application and pre-adoptive procedures. Paperwork and other requirements may vary by state, agency and your relationship to the child you want to adopt (i.e. relative caregivers or foster parents may already have completed some of the core requirements).
Steps to Expect
• Complete the agency’s common application form
• Submit completed tax returns, your marriage license (if applicable) and other identifying documents to the agency
• Complete a household budget
• Submit letters of recommendation from friends, family and or/employers
• Complete a criminal background check
• Get a physical and submit vaccination records for existing children
• Complete a self-study, which is generally a set of questions you answer about your personality, relationship with your spouse or partner, family, childhood and how you would parent your adopted older child
• Engage in a home study conducted by the agency which involves agency and home visits
• Complete any required training or reading
PRE-ADOPTIVE TRAINING AND EDUCATION
No one can obtain a degree in parenting, but there are many ways you can prepare for the role. Pre-adoptive parents of older children and teenagers need to be as ready as possible for parenting children who have experienced early adversity. Being prepared for the challenges of older child adoption may decrease your chances of experiencing adoption disruption, wrote the adoption expert David Brodzinsky for the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.15 Through agency training, independent learning and networking, pre-adoptive parents can ensure they know as much as possible about older child adoption.
It is important that you ask agencies you are interviewing what their training requirements are and how they approach adoptive parent preparation. Pre-adoptive training requirements vary by state. Your adoption agency may require you to attend a set number of training sessions at the agency and/or online as well as read several adoption-related books. Relative caregivers may be exempt from some training requirements or may be able to complete these requirements at a later time (almost all states require at least a criminal background check of relative caregivers, however) since they often have very short notice that the child is being placed in their care.
To be as prepared as possible for adoption, pre-adoptive parents should seek additional training and educational opportunities outside their agency, such as:
• Reading adoption-related websites and blogs
• Registering for online classes or webinars offered by nonprofit organizations
• Joining an adoptive parent support group
• Participating in one or more online discussion forums for adoptive parents (locate areas of the forum where people are discussing older child adoption)
We recommend the websites listed in the appendix for comprehensive and accurate information about domestic older child adoption. The list also includes organizations that offer training and education for prospective, pre-adoptive and adoptive parents.
THE MATCHING PROCESS
Before you find an agency, you can begin learning about waiting children through photo-listing sites. These sites feature children who are legally free for adoption and who are hard to place. On them you will find some information about the child’s interests, background and whether he or she is part of a sibling group. Often you can search for children that belong to a specific age or ethnic/racial group. If you are interested in learning more about a particular child, you will be asked to complete a form that is submitted to the photo-listing agency.
Private adoption organizations or agencies that have a regional or national focus may photo-list waiting children, as do many city, county and state child welfare agencies. When you submit an inquiry about a specific child in whom you are interested, you should receive a phone call shortly from the sponsoring agency which will explain the next steps you need to take to learn more about or meet the child.
Although federal laws have been passed to facilitate interstate adoptions, you may still experience challenges adopting a child from another state. For this reason it may be best for you to begin searching online for a child who has been photo-listed by a public or private agency in your state or region. In working with an agency or organization from another state or region, you may experience delays in getting responses to inquiries about specific children. If you are working with a local agency to complete your home study and other pre-adoptive requirements, your agency may have difficulty obtaining complete and accurate information about a child from another state or region.
In addition to photo-listing waiting children, public agencies may host events where prospective adoptive parents and waiting children can meet and get to know each other in a group setting. These events may be held in conjunction with National Adoption Month (November) and National Foster Care Month (May) to increase the number of prospective adoptive parents of waiting children. If you are interested in attending such an event, call your local child welfare agency to find out if they are holding one.
You may choose to forego using photo-listing services altogether and instead allow your agency to guide the matching process. Your agency may direct you to their own public photo-listing site of waiting children, or ask you to view private listings available only to clients of that agency. Some children are never photo-listed and you simply learn about them from their adoption caseworker. Based on your application materials, your adoption caseworker may talk to you about specific children he or she believes would be a good match for your family. It is especially important that agencies engage teens during the matching process. A good match between adoptive child and parent can decrease the risk of adoption disruption. When choosing an agency, ask whomever you speak with how the agency matches waiting children with prospective parents.
You will only get a few details about the child from a photo-listing service; the in-depth information you need will come from the child’s case files. In order to cope with your child’s needs, issues and problems, you must make every effort to learn all you can about a child’s history of maltreatment, foster care or group home placements and behavioral issues. Your adoption caseworker may review the child’s history with you verbally but you should also examine the case file yourself. The file may include hand-written notes and should date back to his earliest involvement in the system. If you see content that is redacted (blacked out), ask why. After examining the file, ask your counselor additional questions about the child’s behavior, history of maltreatment, relationships with biological family members and foster care placements. Having as much information as possible about your adoptive child can greatly help you be the best parent to that child.
You may also want to speak with the child’s current and/or former foster family to get a more current picture of how he is functioning in a family setting. Beware; some foster families may not be completely forthcoming with information or even willing to speak to you at all, for any number of reasons including lack of interest, a desire to adopt the child themselves or a desire to paint a rosier picture of the child’s behavior so he or she is adopted into a permanent home more quickly. Most foster families will be forthcoming and very helpful. In addition to the foster family, you may also want to try speaking with others close to the child such as teachers, mentors or extended family members.
Many prospective adoptive parents of older children are concerned their agency will withhold information about the child or that the agency will not have a complete case history. Unfortunately, some adoptive parents do report that they did not receive accurate or complete information about their child. There even have been instances of adoptive parents suing their agency for allegedly withholding information. While the majority of agencies and adoption professionals are honest and competent, as in any profession you have some people who cut corners, are unethical or do not place the child’s best interests ahead of their own. If you are not happy with your adoption caseworker, ask to be assigned to someone different.
If you are interested in getting to know a specific child you have learned about from a photo listing or your agency, ask your caseworker to arrange a meeting with the child. They most likely will be willing and able to do this. During the meeting, ask the child what her interests are, what she enjoys learning in school or what she wants to be when she grows up. Your child’s caseworker will have ideas about which questions to ask her. Engage her in a conversation to try to get a sense of what she is like but don’t be discouraged if she seems shy or is short on words—it can be overwhelming for a child to be considered for adoption by a complete stranger. Don’t make commitments but do try to get to know the child.
ADOPTION COSTS
Adopting an older child in the United States is much less expensive than adopting an infant. Specific costs you may incur as you move through the adoption process include agency and legal fees. Because the government has decided to invest in special needs adoption by providing subsidies to families who adopt children from the US foster care system, adopting an older child can cost little to nothing for many families. In 2012, AFCARS reported 92 percent of families adopting with public agency involvement qualified for an adoption subsidy.16
Prospective adoptive parents participating in fost-adopt programs receive monthly payments from the child welfare agency for providing foster care services, but once foster parents adopt a child in their care, financial support may change. Some foster parents are concerned about legally adopting children in their care because they fear losing subsidies that help them care for the child, but new federal programs are ensuring that adoptive parents of older children continue to receive support. A major source of support for foster parents adopting the children in their care comes from the federal Title IV-E program. States vary in determining eligibility for payments through this program so parents should ask their agency if they qualify. Title IV-E benefits may be negotiated or renegotiated.
See http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/monitoring/title-ive-reviews for additional information.
Families that adopt children from foster care also are eligible to receive the federal adoption tax credit regardless of how much they incurred in adoption expenses. The credit, however, has been made non-refundable, meaning that because it is based on tax liability it does not benefit lower and moderate income families as much as higher income families. The adoption tax credit can be confusing, so you should ask your agency or a tax preparer how to go about claiming the credit. The North American Council on Adoptable Children has some of the most up-to-date information about the adoption tax credit on its website.17
Adoptive parents also may receive one-time or recurring payments from the county or state (again, rules vary by state and on a case by case basis). Pre-adoptive parents can negotiate with public child welfare agencies about how much support they will receive for the child’s care. Some adoptive parents receive deferred subsidies, sometimes called “dormant subsidies,” for the future care of an adoptive child. If a child has inherited a mental or physical illness that is known to manifest in adolescence, adoptive parents may ask for dormant subsidies to cover the costs of expected therapeutic or medical services that will be needed. Pre-adoptive parents should research what payments and benefits their adopted child is entitled to receive from the county or state for medical care, higher education and other services.
It may be more difficult to obtain financial support for needed services or adoption subsidies from a different state if you are adopting across state lines. There may be a lack of understanding about services you are eligible to be reimbursed for or receive for free (e.g. counseling services or medical expenses) on the part of the local child welfare agency or the private adoption agency with which you are working. Most children in care receive health benefits through Medicaid, which may continue after adoption, but state rules and regulations vary so you must become knowledgeable about what coverage the child’s home state allows. A child may be eligible for other benefits, such as higher education tuition reduction from the state where he spent a number of years in foster care, but he may become ineligible for such benefits once he is adopted by a family in a different state. To ensure that you receive as many benefits, subsidies and other supports as possible, you need to ask your caseworker a lot of questions and do your own research.
Should you find that you need additional support in helping you pay for adoption-related costs, you may be eligible to apply for private grants or loans. Another source of financial support for adoption may come from your employer, so be sure to find out what your company’s policies are.
HELP NAVIGATING THE ADOPTION PROCESS
Navigating the adoption process can be confusing at times and you may feel as if you need someone to walk you through each step. We do not suggest that you hire an adoption consultant when adopting an older child, because most, if not all, of the information you will need to successfully adopt an older child will be free to you. Be wary of for-profit adoption consultants or organizations that charge exorbitant fees or make unrealistic promises.
If you feel that you do need a paid advisor, select such services very carefully and make sure you will be receiving services, information or support that your agency, a parent support group or a nonprofit organization isn’t already offering. Many public agencies and nonprofit organizations can match you with experienced adoptive parents or adoption professionals who will help you navigate the adoption process from beginning to end, at little or no cost.
