Interstate Foster Care Adoption

We tried to domestically adopt a yr or so ago from a different state than we were in. The particular state was not keen on having the child moved across country. Keeping in mind he had no family in his state of residence that he needed to maintain contact with. They (social services for said state) also told us being AD military and moving so much wasn't going to be looked at favorably. Ok, so this poor child (he is an older child on a waiting list in state care) is going to be deinied a forever family due to some insane restrictions and will remain in foster care. Brilliant ! Now, we have friends that have adopted through the foster care system in the state in which they reside and have had no problems. So I don't know if it was only because we were in one state, the child in another, and we were due to PCS to a third as well, or we just dealt with a bunch of twits. I do hope you have a better time with it all than we did.

I'm extremely stubborn and will fight tool and nail before I give up on adopting the little girl we want to adopt. I've told my dh I've been playing with the idea of writing a book on foster care adoption being denied to military families. I'll keep you posted on what's going on, but I've told my state I'm not adopting a child that they think I should adopt just because of location etc. If I lived in my hometown, I'd have my daughter by now. GRRR

Are you licensed? That is the best way to learn this system and get prepared to foster to adopt. These are not off-the-shelf children and their needs are very different; the training you get in that area as well as the logistics and reasoning of the foster care laws are important to know as well. Finally, licensing connects you to your local agency in a positive way--gets you off on the right foot for building helpful relationships there. If you are licensed, then you can contact the agency in the other state that would be the sending agency and let them know you are interested. If they are willing to work with you, then they will initiate an ICPC--Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children. This request for placement approval is based on an agreement, the Compact, between states as to who is responsible for what. The ICPC paperwork goes from the local sending office to the sending state ICPC admin office to the receiving state ICPC admin office to the local receiving office. At your local level, they check your qualifications--if your license is current, they can often turn it around in a day instead of several months. Once approved at your local level, it goes back through the chain to the sending office, which makes arrangements for transition and transport. Your local office may balk, saying that it has invested time and money into your training and homestudy and does not want to give you up as an adoptive resource to another agency. I don't think, under ASFA, that they can really refuse to approve the ICPC as long as you are already licensed and qualified to adopt. I do know, however, that other f-a parents who contacted their own agency asking if they could do this were told that they couldn't. So I think better to skip that unnecessary step and just let the paperwork land on them. Transitioning is important. We visited with our niece then came back and visited for a few days before bringing her home. She tells me that it still felt like a little like being kidnapped. I remember that she didn't really relax until we got to our home airport and she saw our other kids. If you can arrange several visits and joint activities with the current foster parents, that will go a long way toward easing the child into your home. Anyway, the sending state local agency will probably ask you to come on your own dime; if the child is Title IV-E eligible, they should pay for the return trip for both of you--they'd have to pay a sw's way to transport the child, anyway, as well as extra hours on her payroll. Before you can actually bring the child home, the sending office must send a request for services to the receiving office for those case management and support services that would normally be in place for an adoptive placement. If there is any subsidy, it will come from the sending state. Medicaid, if the child is eligible under Title IV-E, would come from your state--your local state or local office must enroll the child for you. Don't turn it down, you never know when the child will need something not provided by your own plan. Not being military, I am guessing that agencies would be reluctant to work with anyone that they knew had a transient lifestyle. The reason being, especially in the first year, it takes a lot of time and effort to set things up with the receiving state and ensure oversight and support through finalization and even beyond. It would get very complicated to do all that and then have to do it again--you may well move before the ICPC process completes, then it would have to start all over again. And if you did move before finalization, that would be yet another ICPC and more delays--you could find yourself staying behind your family in one state waiting for months for it to clear. Also, and probably more importantly, they are looking for stability for the kids, hoping as much as possible to place them where they can stay in the same home, same school district, community, etc. Yes, anyone else could have a sudden transfer as well, but a family that knows up front that it is moving, and perhaps moving often, may not be considered an optimum placement because of the child's emotional and mental health reasons. Older children have many needs that a child you've had since birth would not. A greater need for stability is one of them. If the child is in a stable foster placement where he/she has attached and is thriving, it may be in his/her better interest to stay there. If you stick it out through the whole process, welcome to the world of fost-adopt. I hope all goes well for the children you care about.

We are Army and have been trying to adopt since Fall of '03. After all these years of homestudies and foster care and moves, the best advice that I can give is to become licensed AS SOON as you get to your next duty station and try to adopt through that state. Once a home development or adoption worker gets to know you and your family they will see your strengths and want this for you also. It is important that a case worker knows they are making the right choices for a child that is coming from a troubled situation. Military families are actually a wonderful resource to a child or children in need of a loving home. We have a support structure that keeps us strong through things that many civilian families would never even imagine having to deal with. We shouldn't be counted out because we change houses every so often...our love never changes! Ask my kids whether they feel bad about seeing things in neat countries! These children need a stable loving family, families that have enough love to explain that a building doesn't provide that...the family does. You should go ahead and write your book and if you need a family's experience I'd be happy to help you with that! Our experience has made me choose to change my major to social work so that I can have an impact that way, keeping our military children with military families. Don't give up if this is something that is in your heart! Research and get someone local on your side.