Adoption from foster care is when you adopt a child or teen who is in foster care and whose parents’ rights have been terminated by a court. The child or teen in foster care may be adopted by their current foster parents or another adoptive family.

In Virginia, you may adopt a child or teen without first being a foster parent. However, there are many reasons why you may choose to foster to adopt in Virginia and become “dual-licensed.”

• If you are already approved as a foster parent when you are matched with a child or teen, you can avoid the delay of completing additional paperwork and processes before the youth is placed into your home.
• If you are “dual licensed,” an adoption agency may choose you over other parents and families seeking to adopt from foster care.
• You will be able to maintain financial assistance for the child or teen and may be able to access post-adoption financial support.
• Adopting from foster care may be a less expensive route than other paths to adoption.

Youth in foster care can be any age from infancy to 18. The average age of a child in foster care in the U.S. is eight. 

The children and teens in foster care represent all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. They are frequently part of a sibling group or teens.

When it comes to children who need therapeutic foster care, often the teens or children enter foster care after experiencing challenges such as financial hardship leading to malnutrition, neglect, or abuse. The children may have mental health issues or may suffer from post-traumatic shock syndrome (PTSD) due to what they have experienced.

The treatment foster care program does not accept children who are currently at risk for harming themselves or others.

As a foster parent, you must be prepared for the possibility that the child or teen you are hoping to adopt will be reunited with their birth parents or placed with another relative. But if your plan from the outset is to adopt, you may ask to be matched with a child or teen whose parental rights have already been terminated.

Before a child or teen is made available for adoption, the courts need to have determined that the youth cannot return to their birth family.

The unique situation that many foster parents experience is sometimes referred to as “concurrent planning.” This means that a plan to reunify the youth with their parents is being actively pursued while agencies try to formulate an alternate permanency plan.

By planning for both outcomes at once, the child or teen will be at less risk of having no home. If the reunification plan is not successful, the foster parents are often the first choice to provide a permanent home.

Even if you firmly wish to adopt, your caseworker may ask you to consider fostering a particular child or teen because the outcome is likely to go in the direction of adoption.

For example, you may consider fostering a child or teen on a “legal-risk basis,” which means the rights of one of the parents have been terminated, and it is expected the rights of the other parent will be terminated also.

Then, if you are already fostering the child and reunification is not possible, the process of becoming the adoptive parent will likely be smoother and faster.

Whether you choose foster care adoption or private adoption may depend on your aims, hopes, sense of purpose, and even your budget. These points may help you decide the best way to expand your family and help a child or teen in need of a permanent home.

Similarities between foster care adoption and private domestic adoption:

• You will provide a home for a child or teen who needs one.
• You will need to complete a home study to check you are suitable and eligible to adopt a child or teen.
• You can explore different adoption situations so you can be sure you are open to what comes next and that you have the tools to address any challenges.
• The birth parents’ rights will be terminated and you will have full parental rights for your child or teen. 
• You may or may not maintain any ties with the child or teen’s birth family. 
• With private domestic infant adoptions, a birth mother may choose to give her baby up for adoption on the condition of maintaining a relationship with the adoptive parents.
• With foster care adoption, you may or may not have ongoing contact with the birth family – it depends on the situation and can vary a great deal.

Differences between foster care adoption and private domestic adoption:

• Children and teens in foster care are more likely to be older so if you are hoping to adopt an infant, you may need to consider a private domestic adoption.
• Adoption from foster care is the least expensive path to adoption while private domestic infant adoption can include agency fees, advertising and matching services, medical fees, and other expenses that are typically covered when you adopt a child from foster care.

In a foster care adoption, the child or teen may have a history of abuse, neglect, or attachment issues, whereas this is not as common with domestic infant adoptions.

Foster parents and adoptive parents come from all walks of life. They’re teachers, nurses, social workers, bookkeepers, chefs, and more. They are people who have realized that they have room in their homes, room in their schedules, and room in their hearts for a child in need. 

Prospective foster parents need to meet these prerequisites to begin the foster parent process:

• 21 or older
• Stable form of income
• Ability to pass a Child Protective Services and Criminal History Search
• Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation
• Personal references
• Physical space in your home
• Emotional space in your life
• Medical information

There are no specific religious requirements or restrictions to participation.

There are many systems in place to help you succeed as a foster-to-adopt parent:

• Thirty hours of pre-licensing training 
• Nine hours of post-licensing training
• Local in-person and online support groups
• 24-hour on-call support
• Counseling
• Reliable respite care so you can take a break and attend to your other needs
• Financial assistance to cover all or most of the costs of adopting children from foster care and to fund their medical and mental health needs