If you are reading this, you may already be a foster parent who is curious if foster care ever leads to adoption; or you may really be interested in adopting as your goal and wondering if becoming a foster parent is a way to adopt.
The foster parent’s primary task is to temporarily care for a child until the child’s permanence goal is achieved. Therefore, if your primary goal is to adopt, you may best be served by pursuing adoption through an adoption agency. Family Works is a treatment foster care agency.
Do our foster parents ever adopt their foster children? Yes, but…
You may only want to foster and not ever adopt and that is perfectly fine. However, you may be approached one day by the county social worker and asked if you would ever consider adopting the foster child in your care IF reunification is not possible and the child’s parental rights are terminated. This leads you into the world of concurrent planning – where the purpose is to start the process of making alternative plans for the child in the event that the child cannot return home. If you are open to this plan, you will need to continue to work with the child’s biological family but be prepared to possibly become their adoptive family if reunification is not successful. This can be difficult, but if you keep your focus on the child and what is in their best interest, hopefully in the end what is best for the child will be the end result.
No guarantees
There are no guarantees that adoption will be the outcome when you are fostering a child that is part of a concurrent plan. The chance of adoption is greater when you foster a child who already has had their parental rights terminated when they are referred to
Family Works and the placing agency is looking for a pre-adoptive family. Typically, children are older in these circumstances; usually they are elementary school aged or older.
The WI Department of Children and Families Out of Home Care Report – 2020 listed the top four discharge reasons for children exiting out of home care as:
- Reunification: 56.2%
- Guardianship: 18%
- Adoption: 16.2%
- Age of Majority: 6.3%
Trauma and loss are unavoidable
It is important to remember that all children in the foster care and adoption system have experienced loss and trauma. It is essential that you do everything possible to prepare to parent a traumatized child in your family forever when you decide to adopt from foster care. You should ask questions, talk to others who have adopted, examine your motivation, discuss your expectations, and remain flexible and open, along with taking care of yourself along the journey.
The rewards are great
While heartbreak can occur in the journey of adopting from foster care, this can be a rewarding lifelong experience for you and the child you adopt.
“It has been a wonderful journey and I’m just so excited that not only are we helping them, they are helping us become better people, a better teacher, and better citizens.” Jodi and Erin – foster to adoptive parents with Family Works
Written by: Valerie Smith – Family Works Executive Director Northern Region
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