What is family Foster/Kinship Care?
According to the National Commission on Family Foster/Kinship care, sponsored by the Child Welfare League of America and the National Foster/Kinship Parent Association:
"Family foster/kinship care is an essential service for children and parents who must live apart while maintaining legal and, usually, affectionate. The value of family foster/kinship care is that it can respond to the unique, individual needs of infants, children, youths, and their families through the strength of family living, and through family and community supports."
"The goal of family foster/kinship care is to provide opportunities for healing, growth and development leading to healthier infants, children, youths, and families, with safe nurturing relationships intended to last a lifetime."
What is adoption?
According to the Child Welfare League of America, in its National Adoption Standards, adoption is the means of transferring to a child and parents all the legal rights that they would have if that child had been born to those parents.
The value of adoption is that it provides children with the basic needs of every child: the legal status, social status, and commitment that comes from having a family of your own in which to grow up.
The goal of adoption is to provide a child with a family that commits to offer a lifetime relationship and assume all the rights and privileges of parenting a child adopted by them.
Who are the children most likely to need foster/kinship families and adoptive families?
The population of children who are most likely to need foster/kinship families and adoptive families are similar:
Do all children who need foster/kinship families and adoptive families have problems?
Most children do, to some degree. Children often are frightened and confused by the separation from their parents. Some children are angry. Some children are sad. Some children think they are being punished. Even babies can be irritable and fretful at first.
Most children need foster/kinship parents or adoptive parents because of something done to them, not something they have done. They are not "bad? children. They come from bad situations, but not bad families.
Over time, the sad and mad feelings and behaviors gradually lessen as the child comes to know and trust you, and feel safe with you as parents. Adoptive parents take pride in watching their adopted children settle down and grow up strong, with the good feelings that come from belonging to a family of their own.
Foster/Kinship parents take pride in helping teenagers catch up in school or learn how to groom themselves. Foster/Kinship parents also feel satisfaction when they help children reunite with their parents or kin folk, or when they help a child get adopted, or help a young person move to independent young adult life.
Are there different types of foster/kinship parenting arrangements?
"Emergency" foster/kinship parents take children on short notice in crisis situations, until longer term arrangements can be made. If you become an emergency foster/kinship parent, you could receive calls at any time of the day or night, and would need to care for children of all ages for all kind of circumstances. It requires special skill and supports to be an emergency foster, kinship parent, and you also get extra compensation.
"Specialized" foster/kinship parents work with children with more challenging emotional, behavioral and medical problems. These foster/kinship parents, must complete additional specialized training and assessment and are known as medical, behavioral, or career foster/kinship parents. They receive special payment for their unique work.
"Traditional" foster/kinship parents protect and nurture most of the children in care, those who do not need emergency or specialized care. Traditional foster/kinship parents also have training, and also receive some reimbursement for the cost of foster/kinship parenting.
What are the qualifications to be a foster/kinship parent or an adoptive parent?
Foster/Kinship parents and adoptive parents can be married or single, with or without children already in their families. We are looking for individuals, couples or families who can protect children and nurture them. Both foster/kinship parents and adoptive parents have to understand how children grow and develop, and how abuse and neglect affects that development.
Foster/Kinship parents and adoptive parents need to respect that the children placed with them will have feelings about their birth families. The older the child, the more memories and attachments there will be.
Foster/Kinship parents need to help children maintain contact with their birth families, not only because most children do return to their families, but also because it is important for their self-esteem and identity. Visits between children and their families are important. The Children's Division will work with you to arrange these contacts. Foster/Kinship parents often build good relationships with the parents of the children in their care and, in those case, the visits may be in the foster/kinship family's home. In other cases, foster/kinship parents may bring the children to the Children's Division offices. Adoptive parents also need to understand the importance of birth family ties for children.
What does it cost to foster/kinship or to adopt, and how do the finances work?
Foster/Kinship parents receive a monthly check to help cover the cost of the child's food, clothing, and personal allowance. The Children?s Division offers reimbursement according to a set structure of rates. The first check will not come until a month or so after the child arrives, so foster/kinship parents need enough extra money in their budgets to support their own family and the new child or children--until the reimbursement arrives.
People who receive public assistance or who are on small or fixed incomes may find it difficult to foster/kinship. This is because our reimbursement system is "delayed." This means that you receive the payments after you have spent the money. This could cause some hardships for some families. In addition, many foster parents meet some of the cost of fostering from their own resources.
Adoptive parents may be able to obtain an adoption subsidy. This means that they can continue to get financial support from the Children?s Division, even after the adoption is finalized.
How long does it take to become a foster/kinship parent or an adoptive parent?
Some people think that because there is a shortage of foster/kinship families, becoming a foster/kinship parent is quick. There are too many children who have experienced the tragedy of abuse and neglect, so we do need many competent foster/kinship families. However, the children need us to be careful about who becomes foster/kinship parents and adoptive parents because we do not want the children to be hurt any more. The licensing/training/assessment process will take about four months--still much faster than having a baby, and not as long as it takes to get a license to be a barber.
How soon a child is placed with you depend upon a number of other factors. For example, if you are willing and able to foster/kinship or adopt older children, brothers and sisters, or younger children with medical problems, you probably will be able to have a child placed with you more quickly.
Why do we need special training?
Foster/Kinshipping and adopting is not the same as parenting a child born to you. Over time, you may need to talk with that child about the birth family, or help the child manage feelings about being in foster/kinship care or being adopted. The training we provide, will help you help your children.
Some people think that children who have been abused will feel grateful to be with another family. However, most children truly care about their parents, siblings, and other kin. Even though they may have been abused, there probably were some good family times, too. One of the biggest challenges in foster/kinship or adopting is to be sure that children never feel they have to "choose" between families, and that one family isn?t ?better" than another. It takes patience, skill, and training to help children understand that birth families and foster/kinship families are different, and birth families and adoptive families are different too. It?s okay to care about all our families.
Do I have complete legal and financial responsibility for children placed with me and my family?
If you are a foster/kinship family, the Children?s Division has temporary or permanent legal custody of and responsibility for the children.
If you are an adoptive family, the Children?s Division has responsibility for the child until the adoption is finalized.
What does the term "not legally free for adoption" mean?
The ultimate goal for the child is adoption, but the parental rights for that child have not yet been terminated.