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How to Adopt The information below provides an overview of the steps involved in adopting a child from the United States foster care system. To request more information about other types of adoption or a list of local resources, send an e-mail message to info@nacac.org and let us know the information you need. Please be sure to include your mailing address. Of the estimated 510,000 children who have been separated from their birth parents and placed in foster care, about 129,000 can never return to their original home. They need the nurturing and support that a permanent family can provide, and deserve a chance to grow up feeling secure and loved. That is where special needs adoption comes in. It is not so much about finding a child for a family, but instead finding the most suitable family for each waiting child. Defining Special Needs "Special needs" is a phrase used to classify children who, for various reasons, have a harder time finding families willing to adopt them. Often special needs include factors such as age, background, and physical, mental, or emotional challenges. Typically, children who have special needs have been separated from their birth families, live in foster care, are school-aged, and may have physical or mental disabilities. Some children have physical or mental conditions that require special treatment; others have emotional scars from abuse or neglect. Children may also be classified as special needs if they are part of a sibling group that is being placed for adoption together, or members of a minority group. Every state sets its own special needs definition. The Adoption Process Every adoption experience is as unique as the families, children, and service personnel involved. Common to every adoption, however, are certain steps that lead from first thinking about adoption to finally welcoming a new child (or children!) into your life. The 15 steps listed below--typical for most domestic (adoption of American children by American citizens) special needs adoptions--provide a basic overview of how you may want to approach the adoption process.
Step 1: Learn All You Can about Adoption Written Materials
Suggested Adoption-Related Reading Adoption Conferences Many national, regional, and local groups hold annual conferences with workshops geared toward new or prospective adoptive parents. Two of the longest running and largest adoption conferences are the North American Council on Adoptable Children’s annual conference (held at different sites in the U.S. and Canada during late July or early August), and the Adoption Community of New England’s annual conference (held in Massachusetts every spring--call 800-93-ADOPT or 508-429-4260, or visit http://adoptioncommunityofne.org). As mentioned above, CWIG maintains a list of upcoming conferences--call 800-394-3366 or 703-385-7565, or visit http://www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.cfm. For a list of the national and regional conferences printed in the most recent Adoptalk, click here. Step 2: Complete a Self-Assessment Children don't need perfect parents, just one or two individuals willing to meet the unique challenges of parenting and make a lifetime commitment to caring for and nurturing their children. One of the advantages of special needs adoption is that almost any responsible adult can become an adoptive parent. Prospective parents do not have to be rich, married, under 40, highly educated, or home owners to adopt. Far more important are personal characteristics like:
If you have all or most of those qualities, then ask yourself these questions:
Think carefully about your answers to these questions. You may decide to pursue a different type of adoption, investigate foster care, or realize that adoption really is not for you. Take the time to make a good decision, because it is a decision you and your adoptive child will live with for life. To go through a more structured and detailed self-assessment, try out the Iowa KidsNet Foster Care and Adoption Self-Assessment Guide. The guide is not state-specific and is a useful tool to help individuals make informed decisions about fostering or adopting a child. In addition, before seriously contemplating special needs adoption, prospective parents must honestly evaluate their desire and ability to successfully parent children who have troubling pasts and uncertain futures. Many children who become available for adoption at older ages have not received the early care that kids need to develop a strong sense of security, trust, and self-esteem. Many also suffer from conditions caused by past trauma, or prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs. Children whose backgrounds include traumatic experiences, abuse, and/or neglect may exhibit symptoms of distress such as:
Fortunately, through therapy, medication, and consistent specialized care, children can also find ways to overcome or at least better cope with many of these challenges. Almost every child will put his or her new adoptive parents through a period of testing to see if the parents are truly committed or just waiting for an excuse to desert the child as others have before. To improve your chances of successfully adopting a child who has special needs, be prepared to offer a home environment that combines extra love, support, and attention with clear structure and consistent limit-setting. Parents should also be ready to actively advocate for their child at school, with peers, and within the community. It can be immensely helpful for parents to have a support network or belong to an adoptive parent support group. Other Resources NACAC maintains a listing of adoptive parent support groups, as well as other good sources of information about special needs adoption. To find a support group in your area, visit our parent group section. Step 3: Decide What Type of Adoption You Want to Pursue Even if you have already decided to adopt a child who has special needs, you must still make a number of choices about your adoption. Most importantly, you need to decide what type of child you are willing to bring into your family. What disabilities and challenges (physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral) can you comfortably handle? What age range, background, and ethnicity would fit best within your household and community? Are you open to helping your adopted child maintain contact with some of his or her birth relatives? Can you welcome a group of two or more siblings into your home? Next, you should consider whether you would rather work through a public or a private adoption agency. Though most children who have special needs become available for adoption through the public foster care system, both public and private agencies can help you locate a child or sibling group to adopt. In general, the differences between public and private agencies can be summarized as follows: Public Agencies:
Private Agencies:
Step 4: Investigate Ways to Cover Likely Adoption Expenses Many agencies do not charge service fees to families who adopt children with special needs. However, you will need a home study, and because adoption is a legal process, you may need an attorney. The cost of a home study can vary from $0 to $3,000. Attorney fees and court costs can range from $1,000 to $6,000, and special needs adoptive families often incur additional costs for medical services, counseling, etc.--costs that may continue throughout the child's lifetime. Fortunately, due to federal and employer-initiated programs, parents have several options for covering the cost of special needs adoption. Loans Many loans are project- or item-specific, but some can be used for whatever the borrower wants. Two such flexible loans are home equity loans (money borrowed against the value of your house) and insurance loans (money borrowed against the value of your life insurance policies). These loans come with relatively low interest rates and a choice of payment terms. To learn more, contact a bank or mortgage broker, or your life insurance company. Newer adoption-related foundations also offer financial assistance to those hoping to adopt. The organizations listed below (among others) allow or encourage parents who are hoping to adopt children from foster care to apply for assistance:
Employer Assistance Employers who offer adoption benefits may provide workers with:
To request a list of employers who provide adoption benefits or learn more about workplace adoption benefits, contact the Adoption Friendly Workplace Program, an initiative of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Call 877-777-4222, send an e-mail to info@adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org; or visit www.adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org. Military Reimbursements Active-duty military personnel are eligible for a reimbursement of up to $2,000 per child adopted to cover one-time adoption-related costs such as application and court fees or travel expenses. No more than $5,000 can be reimbursed in any one year, and payments are only issued after adoptions are finalized. Children who have disabilities may also be able to access up to $1,000 per month under the military's Program for Persons with Disabilities. Through the Exceptional Family Member Program, families with children who have special needs will be assigned to duty stations where the child's needs can be met. Learn more from the Child Welfare Information Gateway; visit www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_milita.cfm or call 800-394-3366. Tax Credits and Exclusions Since tax year 2003, parents who adopt children who have special needs from the U.S. foster care system (and whose annual adjusted gross income is less than $190,000) have been able to claim up to $10,160 (plus annual cost-of-living adjustments�\$11,650 for tax year 2008) in tax credits or exclusions to offset adoption costs without documenting adoption expenses. For families who adopt children that the state has determined are not special needs, the family can still take the tax credit for any qualifying expenses. For more information about the credit and exclusion, review IRS Instructions for Form 8839, "Qualified Adoption Expenses" or read NACAC’s fact sheet on the tax credit. Learn more from the Internal Revenue Service; call 800-829-3676 or visit www.irs.gov/instructions/i8839/. Adoption Subsidies If you adopt a U.S. child who has special needs, he or she may be eligible for a federal or state adoption subsidy (also known as adoption assistance). Adoption assistance payments are designed to help offset the short- and long-term costs associated with adopting children who need special services. In general, children adopted from the custody of state or county child welfare agencies (or private agencies under contract with the state who provide services for foster children) are eligible for adoption assistance benefits. Benefits available through subsidy programs vary by state, but commonly include:
Before adopting a child who has special needs, ask your agency about federal and state subsidies. To learn more about federal and state subsidy programs, click here or contact NACAC's Adoption Subsidy Resource Center at 800-470-6665. Step 5: Select an Adoption Agency How to Find Agencies To find as many agencies to choose from as possible:
Finding the Right Agency for You To find a public or private agency that is a good fit for you, your values, and your unique situation, compare information from several agencies. Before selecting an agency, take the initiative to learn more about them by interviewing agency representatives by phone or in person. For example, you may want to ask:
Step 6: Let Your Agency Know You Are Serious about Adopting When you call an agency to let staff there know you are interested in adopting, the person you talk to may ask a series of screening questions or simply volunteer to send literature about the agency. If you want to adopt relatively soon, find out how you can get the process started. One common first step is an orientation meeting or training session for prospective adoptive parents. At the meeting or training you will likely:
Step 7: Complete an Adoption Application If possible, attend an orientation session before filling out application paperwork so you are confident in the agency's ability to meet your needs. Application fees are often non-refundable, even if you decide to work through a different agency or change your mind about adopting. If you find that the application process is hard to understand, ask the agency or another adoptive parent for help. Don’t let the challenges of completing forms keep you from pursuing adoption. Find out how long it will take for the agency to process your application once you have completed the forms and paid the fee. Ask when you should next expect to hear from the agency, and how you can schedule and prepare for a home study. Step 8: Begin the Home Study Process A home study can loosely be defined as an educational process designed to help your social worker learn more about your ability to parent and provide a stable home, to teach you about adoption and its affect on children and families, and to prepare you to parent a child whose experiences and history are very different from your own. Everyone who hopes to adopt must have a completed home study. Depending on the agency, the worker, and the prospective parents' cooperation, the process can take from two months to a year. Items You May Need for a Home Study Specific requirements for home studies vary by state and agency, so be sure to ask for a list of the items and information your agency needs. The following items are commonly required during the home study process:
At some point in the process, you may also need to pay for the home study. The cost through a public agency may be quite low or even free; other agencies typically charge between $1,000 and $4,000 for a completed study. Questions You May Be Asked During home study meetings with your worker, you can expect to answer questions about your background, your education, your job history, your marriage, your leisure activities, your religion (particularly for religiously affiliated agencies), and your experiences with children. For instance, the worker may ask:
The goal of home studies is to help agencies locate the best home for each child it places, and make good matches between parents and children. If you have questions about your study, ask your social worker or agency. Step 9: Attend Adoption and Parenting Classes Public agencies commonly require pre-placement training to acquaint prospective parents with issues that can arise after a child or sibling group is placed with them. School-aged adoptees bring not only unique special needs, but also a history of life experiences that will affect their interactions with adoptive parents, new siblings, schoolmates, and others. Issues related to disability, culture, early abuse, and a child's birth family should all be discussed before a child is placed in your home. Even if your agency does not require training, learn all you can about adoption issues. The more you know, the better. Step 10: Begin Searching for a Child If you adopt through an agency, learn how the agency will conduct a search. What criteria do they use to match children with families? Are they willing to search outside your immediate area for a child or youth? If you become interested in a child or youth from another state, will the agency help you to move forward with adopting the child or youth? The adoption exchanges listed below publish photolistings and provide other information about children who are available for adoption:
Click here for a state by state list of web sites that feature children who are waiting for permanent families in various states. To keep the process moving, stay in close contact with your agency and offer to help in the search process by reviewing photolistings, attending matching parties, or updating your parent profile. Step 11: Select a Child or Sibling Group to Bring into Your Family Before agreeing to adopt any child or sibling group, learn as much as you can about the child�\including prenatal care and exposure to drugs or alcohol, birth parents’ medical histories, attachments to foster families or other relatives, foster care placements, relationships with siblings, interests and talents, etc. Most agencies want adoptive parents to get to know children before agreeing to adopt. If the child has certain medical conditions or other disabilities, decide if your family is prepared to address issues that may arise from the child’s situation. If you agree to adopt and accept placement of a child whose birth parents' rights have not been voluntarily surrendered or involuntarily terminated (known as a legal-risk placement), you must accept the chance that the child could be returned to his or her birth parents. Until birth parents' rights are terminated, the child cannot legally become a member of your family and must instead stay in your home as a foster child. Step 12: Prepare for Your Child's Arrival Anticipate how the addition of a new family member will affect your life and plan accordingly. Depending on your situation and the child you adopt, you may need to:
Children who are placed for adoption through public agencies may move in with an adoptive family as soon as the parents complete required pre-placement visits and are approved to adopt--provided the timing is not unnecessarily disruptive to the child's schooling or other activities. When a new child is placed in your home, you will assume temporary legal custody. For a few months, while your family undergoes the inevitable adjustment period, your agency will monitor how the placement is proceeding. The monitoring period typically lasts about six months to a year. During this time, the worker may call or visit to assess how you and your child are adjusting, and to answer questions. If all goes well, at the end of the monitoring period the agency will recommend to the court that the adoption be approved. Step 14: File a Petition to Adopt An adoption petition is the document filed in court that initiates the legal aspect of adoption. Through the petition, adoptive parents formally request permission to adopt a specific child. To file a petition you will likely need the following information and documentation:
Step 15: Make it Legal: Finalize the Adoption Your adoption is not legally complete until your newly created family goes through the finalization process. Finalization hearings usually take place within a year after a child is placed in the home. Before scheduling a hearing, check with your agency to make sure you have completed the necessary paperwork. If you are missing required documents, the finalization could be delayed. The finalization hearing is a judicial proceeding, sometimes held in the judge's chambers, during which adoptive parents are granted permanent legal custody of their adopted child. The hearing, which usually lasts only 30 to 60 minutes, is designed to establish the legality of the new family unit, and confirm that the adoptive parents are willing and able to provide for their new child. Who Should Attend the Hearing The following individuals generally attend the finalization hearing:
In a few cases, the child's birth parents may also appear, but only if their parental rights have not yet been terminated or if they are participating in an open or cooperative adoption. What the Hearing Involves To verify that the adoption should take place, the court will attempt to establish that the child has been placed in a safe, loving home. Expect to list all the identifying information included in your adoption petition and answer questions such as:
As soon as the judge signs the adoption order, you gain permanent legal custody of your child. Finalization is the last formal step in the adoption process and marks the official beginning of your new family. From this point, learn as much as you can about post-adoption services (like respite care, support groups, etc.) that can help you make the most of your new role as an adoptive parent. |
North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC)
970 Raymond Avenue, Suite 106
St. Paul, MN 55114
phone: 651-644-3036
fax: 651-644-9848
e-mail: info@nacac.org
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