Foster to Adopt in Virginia
Fostering a child or teen before you adopt is a helpful way to gain parenting experience, form early bonds, and assess if your family is a good match before the process is finalized.
Foster to Adopt in Virginia
Fostering a child or teen before you adopt is a helpful way to gain parenting experience, form early bonds, and assess if your family is a good match before the process is finalized.
What Is the Process of Adoption from Foster Care in VA?
There are currently 5,000 children and teens in the foster care system in the state of Virginia. Of these youth, 1,700 have the goal of adoption, and more than 700 are waiting for adoptive families. All are waiting for the love and security that only a permanent home can provide.
Fostering while being open to adoption is a wonderful way to begin sharing your love with a child or teen. Before any adoption can go forward, the child or teen must live in your home for six months. This means that if you are already fostering the youth during that time, the adoption process may be finalized sooner.
An adoption agency will make sure you’re eligible to be an adoptive parent and conduct a home check. When you have successfully navigated these steps, you will be ready to welcome a child or teen into your home. UMFS believes there’s no better way to make an impact and expand your family than by adopting from foster care.
Benefits of Being a Foster Parent Before Adopting
There are many proactive reasons to consider fostering a child or teen before you start the adoption process. Here are a few empowering ways that adoption from foster care can benefit both you and the youth:
- If you have not yet experienced parenthood, being a foster parent allows you to share your love and home with a child or teen in need as soon as possible.
- Even if you end up adopting a different child or teen, you will gain valuable experience in forming a relationship with a child or teen who has experienced trauma.
- You can gain experience parenting children and teens from different age groups, from infant to 18.
- You and your family can begin to bond right away, in case there’s a chance it will become permanent.
- You have the opportunity to assess if you, other members of your family, and the child or teen in foster care will be compatible long term.
- If you prove to be a good match to adopt the child or teen from foster care, then the youth will make fewer moves between different homes and therefore experience less disruption.
- During the foster care period, you may be able to form relationships with the child or teen’s family members, and you may maintain these connections even after the adoption is finalized.
- A child or teen in foster care needs to live with their potential adoptive parents for six months before adoption so if you’re already licensed to provide foster care, the total adoption process may be shorter.
- During your time as a foster parent, you can gain valuable knowledge about the resources and services available to support you.
- Being a foster parent shows adoption agencies that you have the skills and dedication needed to become an adoptive parent.
Adopting From Foster Care in VA
Many families hoping to add a child or teen to their family often foster first with the desire to adopt. However, adoption isn’t an option unless the birth parents’ rights are terminated. The first goal for children and teens in foster care is always to try and reunite them with their birth parents or relatives.
If it becomes possible to reunite the child or teen with their family, your role may involve helping with reunification by helping the child to spend time with their birth parents. If you are still insteading in adoption, you may then want to explore your options with another child or teen in foster care.
Foster to Adopt: Who Are the Children and Teens?
Children and teens enter foster care through no fault of their own when the need for care and protection has come to the attention of a child welfare agency. Once in foster care, the child or teen is placed in temporary state custody.
Typically, children and teens in foster care are awaiting one of three outcomes:
- Reunification with their birth parents
- Transfer of custody to a family member or family friend
- Adoption
Youth in foster care may have experienced some sort of abuse and neglect. It’s important for people interested in adopting a child or teen from foster care to undergo specialized training to understand the impact of such experiences and learn ways to help the youth heal, grow, and flourish.
With UMFS’ treatment foster care and adoption services, children and teens in the foster care system have opportunities to find a forever home. If you’re interested in beginning the process of adopting a child or teen from foster care, UMFS is here to help.
A Foster to Adopt Success Story
Kathleen and Matthew Palmer adopted sisters Lizzy and Emily through UMFS. Kathleen said it has been an amazing, life-changing adventure. They began their journey in 2006 with foster parent training in Annandale, VA. She said the training gave them the foundation of knowledge, which they combined with their faith, to create a family from a strong base.
At first, the girls were watching for signs that Kathleen and Matthew could be trusted, and they were also worried that their new foster parents would be like the last foster family, who did not fulfill their promises. In this initial period, the girls tried to be on their best behavior. The family faced several challenges in addition to moving with the demands of being a military family. However, the girls learned the family unit stayed the same even if the home changed.
At high school, the girls each developed interests while overcoming the usual teen hurdles. Kathleen said birthdays were always a delicate time, which they handled with care. Along the way, Kathleen felt happy they could show the girls many places in the U.S. and introduce them to extended family.
“It is not a journey for the weak at heart. It is not a journey with a final destination. It is a journey of growth and unconditional love. It is a journey of honeymoons, hiccups, and most of all…. It is a journey of HOPE!”
How UMFS Supports Adoption in Virginia
In most cases, the children and teens who are available for adoption in the foster care system are older and are legally ready to adopt because their parental rights have been terminated. As we mentioned earlier, more than 700 children and teens are currently waiting for adoptive families.
UMFS offers services through partnerships with various adoption agencies in Virginia. Our team consists of adoption social workers, therapists, and adoptive parent liaisons that empower you with all the tools you need to succeed at being adoptive parents to a child or teen from foster care.
Adoption from Foster Care FAQ
What is foster care adoption?
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.
Foster parents who do not plan to adopt but then later end up adopting are also pursuing a form of foster parent adoption called foster-to-adopt.
What is foster care?
Foster care is when a child or teen goes to live with a foster family because their primary caregivers are unable to care for them. The parents may be unable to provide care due to anything from financial stress to drug abuse, and they may have been reported to child welfare systems.
Foster parents provide a safe, stable, temporary home for children in foster care in order to provide the best opportunity for the children to thrive. The foster family may have additional biological children of their own or additional children in foster care. The average length of time a child spends in foster care in the U.S. is 12 months.
The goals for each child and teen in foster care can vary. Many return to their primary caregivers whenever possible. If returning home is not possible, the child or teen may be adopted or seek other foster care services. At 18 or 21, the child ages out of the system and may seek other support systems to thrive as an adult. However, many face homelessness and unemployment.
Can I pursue adoption in Virginia without being a foster parent?
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.
What is a typical child or teen in foster care like and what have they been through?
Youth in foster care can be any age from infant 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.
What is a typical child or teen in foster care like, and what have they been through?
Children and teens in foster care can be any age, from infant to 18. The average age of a child in foster care in the U.S. is eight. The youth 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, the child may have experienced financial hardship leading to malnutrition or suffered from 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 UMFS foster care program does not accept children or teens who are currently at risk for harming themselves or others.
Is it likely the child or teen I am fostering will be reunited with their birth parents?
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 made the determination that the youth cannot return to their birth family.
The unique situation that many foster parents experience is sometimes referred to as “concurrent planning.” It means that a plan to reunify the youth with their parents is being actively pursued at the same time that agencies are trying 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.
What are the similarities and differences between foster care adoption and private domestic adoption?
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 of 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.
What are the requirements to become a foster parent and adoptive parent?
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.
What training and support are available to foster parents and adoptive parents?
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
For more information on adoption from foster care in Virginia, contact us today.
UMFS has eight locations throughout the state of Virginia, spread conveniently across the Commonwealth. If you’re interested in learning what is involved to become a foster parent, we encourage you to send us an inquiry, or contact UMFS at any of these locations: