State adoptions

I'm not in Arizona, but most states work similarly when the questions are as broad as the ones you're asking, so here goes: IF the child in foster care is considered to be a child with "special needs", then he/she will probably be eligible to receive a subsidy until he/she is 18 years old. States do this so that children who might cost a family more money than a different child would cost them don't have to sit in foster care. The state usually sets the subsidy payment at or below the rate paid to foster parents for that same child - just enough to help with those specific needs. The definition of "special needs" varies, and it's the state the child lives in that makes that determination. Basically it just means "harder to place". An 8 year old probably qualifies for it, for example, simply because people usually prefer to adopt younger children. So might a sibling group, simply because people usually prefer to adopt one child at a time. So might a child with learning disabilities because given the chance people usually choose to adopt a child who doesn't have them. And of course a child in a wheelchair, or a child with a breathing tube, or one with a missing limb. But those smaller issues can qualify too, it just depends on the rules of the state where the child lives. Each state has their own definition. The subsidy is sent to the adoptive parents to help defray the costs of raising a child who may be "more difficult" than another child. It ensures that a family would have the financial resources to adopt any child they are capable of parenting, and doesn't have to take an "easier" child just because of money a more difficult one might cost them. Like you said, you can afford one young child just like most people can, but you might be able to take two or three children if money weren't an issue. So check the state the children are in and find out if three siblings of that age and race with their needs count as "special needs" or not. It may turn out that money wouldn't be an issue... You also made the comment that you were surprised about wait times because so many children are waiting... I hope you realize that the children in foster care are there because they experienced horriffic abuse and neglect in their birth homes. They often aren't normal-acting or normal-thinking children. They have issues, behaviors, and trauma that children like your birth daughter can't even imagine. Most people in this world aren't capable of or willing to adopt them. And of those who are willing, most often choose to take the children who were least abused or least affected by the abuse. Children on photolistings are often the hardest of the hard to place. Their foster parents don't want to adopt them. The people the foster parents know don't want to adopt them. The agency doesn't have any waiting parents who want to adopt them. So they're listed regionally or nationally in the search for parents. This isn't because there aren't enough parents, but because there aren't enough parents who understand the issues well enough to help those kids. It takes a while, often a long while, to be matched not because there are too few kids, but because it may take that long before a child enters care who has the specific issues that you are able to deal with. With a 5 year old in the home, I assume you are not willing to adopt two children who may attempt to have sex with each other - or with her. Nor are you willing to adopt a child who has 3-hour-long tantrums and needs to be held for the whole time to keep him from hurting himself. Nor are you willing to adopt a child who talks about killing other people, and verbalizes real plans for doing so. Am I right? (And I sincerely apologize if I'm wrong, I fully admit I'm making an assumption there!) Most people believe that children are resilient, mostly unaffected by "bad parenting", and that love will cure everything. And children in foster care who have bounced back from their problems, have no behaviors caused by abuse or neglect, and who need only love and not counseling or other treatment are relatively rare. Does that make sense? There are thousands of children in foster care, but they're not the kind of child most people are interested in adopting. The kind of child most people are interested in adopting comes along quite rarely, so the waiting list for such a child is indeed long. I assume you're doing your homework about the issues that children in foster care can be dealing with. The more research you do, the more knowledge and understanding you gain, and the more of those issues you are willing to accept in an adopted child... obviously the shorter your waiting time is likely to be. Good luck!

I was reading your article and am interested in adopting. I would like to adopt a sibling group probably because I came from a large family myself. Your posting meantioned doing research and I was wondering what and where to start the research. I like to read about everything and know that the child comes to you broken in someway from foster care. But information on where to go on research would be appreciated. Since you meantioned it I assumed you had places to start. If you could direct me and other it would be more than appreciated. I really want to understand the issues to help. I started the process but was laid off. I am in school right now so that I can have a better life myself and have more to offer a child. I have enough in the bank to cover me through the following year. I may see if that would be enough to start and get certified for adoption. Just a short note that doesn't apply to this but I am so thankful that I would like to tell the world. I have an elderly Aunt that they thought had uterian cancer (even though the doctor billed the Medicare for a uterus removal that he didn't perform) today was diagnosed with no cancer in the uterus. This just goes to prove the miracle of prayer and not to give up. I won't

Arizona, the books that were recommended to me (and I think they are quite good) are Adopting the Hurt Child, Parenting the Hurt Child, and Our Own: Adopting and Parenting the Older Child. Jen

[url="http://foster-child.adoption.com/"]http://foster-child.adoption.com/[/url]

Missyjo- I can relate to your situation. We have two children ages 7 & 9 and were hoping for one child or a sib pair under age 6, ideally with only minor "problems". The process was taking so long that we became discouraged. After reading DianeS's reply to your note, I have decided to give up Fost/Adopt. DianeS- I do appreciate your harshly worded but honest description. It was a good wake-up call. I am hoping to pursue international adoption. It is obviously a lot more costly, but perhaps the best thing for my family. I am very interested to know if anyone out there has been in this boat. God Bless.

We know how you feel! We were going to go the International route first, but that was right before/after the Asian tsunami and so many adoptions were put on hold and we didn't want to continue to wait 'til who knows when to complete the process. Plus the cost was ridiculous! We have gotten VERY discouraged with AZ's system as well. We've had our little A since she was 4 months old and she is now nearly 21 months old. She was born meth exposed and abandoned after bio mom was confronted with the postive results. BD has never been found/located/verified to exist. She was TPR'd last January. There has been no other relatives to come forward (they declined because this was bio mom's 4th child she'd done this to), no contact with any family since 10/04. The problem we have had is that she has STILL not been assigned an adoption worker! Her case has not progressed for nearly 6 months! The judge has demanded that DES expedite her case. FCRB has demanded the same. Her GAL is livid that nothing has happened. Her CS has made a request to transfer her case to an adoption worker several times. Aparently there is a short staffing of adoption workers and there simply isn't anyone to take her case. WHATEVER! So, we've wasted 6 months with nothing happening! She supposedly is on a "list" to get an adoption worker. We've been told from the moment we brought little A into our home that her case was a "no brainer." But, we've had her nearly a year and a half and we still don't even have a finalization date set! Believe me, we are VERY discouraged with AZ's system and more than likely will not put our family on hold again by attempting to fost/adopt through the state. :grr:

I found a really good web site that should answer all your questions...I hope it helps you. [url]www.beginnersguide.com/adoption[/url] also in reading it myself I found the the lowest cost to adopt ranges between $o-$500 if you do Foster care for the State and adopt through Foster care. If you go down to the bottom of the page of the link I gave you, you will see a section on Foster Parenting underneath that headline there is a link to read about Fos-Adopt...This might be the way to go for you. I found that to become a Foster Parent it was fairly easy. And there are alot of children under the age of 5 in the system, most likely they will be released to adoption. This is what me and My husband are doing, we got Certified to do Fos/Adoption...which means we take in Foster children and if they are a good fit with our family and 1 day do not have the oppertunity to return back to thier family and become avail. for Adoption we have that option to Adopt. We get I hate to say it First Choice cause the child has lived with us. It will take you 10 weeks to get Licensed to Foster...Well for us 10 weeks cause all Foster/Adopt Parents take a class called PS-MAPP for us it was once a week for 3 hrs, 10 weeks. And its actually a fun class with great ppl and you really do learn alot of things. Then of course theres paper also during this time, no biggy, easy stuff. If that seems this seems the way to possibly go for you CAll your local DES office. And tell your interested in doing Foster/Adopt. They will get things all started really fast, at least for me it was. I called and 2 days later had my Licensure at my house getting me started, she is Great. then about 2 weeks later We started classes. Note: If you decide to do this both you and Hubby have to take the class. We both enjoyed it very much. I have lots of Adoption and Foster Links so if you have anymore questions feel free to ask. Hope this helps or gives you another option.Donna

Hi! I did a volunteer stint for over a year with children from the pool of not-available-for-adoption children in AZ. These are kids that will always be in foster care and/or subject to removal from their birth home at any time based on ongoing family monitoring. The pool of adoptable children is not as large as the statistic of "Children in Foster Care" suggests. This gave me lots of insight into the AZ legal system and the types of issues the kids face. I am amazed at the amount of control by case workers--they can influence how long a child is in court care for years for a variety of reasons before a resolution (and not often freeing the child for adoption). Remember, Gov. N.'s policy is "family reunification, with services provided in the birth home". This means an agency re-unification goal of about 90 per cent to birth parents. This does not seem to qualify AZ as a "adoption friendly" state. Does this mean I am willing to take my chances in the pool with the rest? Of course!

The goal of reunification seems great IF all of the ducks are in a row and it IS what is best for the children. Our situation has been absolutely ridiculous! They had our little A's case as reunification for 15 months, even though she was abandoned. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Reunify with whom? Seems like some intelligent person would have seen that her case should have been changed to severance a LONG time ago. They should make the decisions on the cases on a case-by-case situation, not automatically label them all as reunification just because that is the agenda of the state. The politics of foster and adoption in this state are quite bizarre. Still waiting for an adoption worker to be assigned...7 months and counting...