Adoption by a social worker

I was not a caseworker with CPS/DSS but I know several people, caseworkers, caseworker assistants, anyone associated with the foster care system, who fostered and decided to adopt. When it can time to adopt, they were given the option to transfer to another agency within the state or not adopt the child at all. This reigned true with kinship adoptions as well. These people were employed by the state of Texas and not vendors or contractors from private agencies.

If you're licensed, you probably should check with the licensing board about dual relationships. I've known social workers who have adopted within the system, but they didn't adopt the kids they had on their caseload. I know that licensing boards have statues that limit adult relationships, so I would think that they'd have something similar for potential parent relationships.

It will vary by state and area, where I am in Florida they require the social workers to adopt from another county. They can not adopt a child that they work with.

Thank you for your response. I am not licensed but do have my masters in social work. I work for a nonprofit foster family agency. I had worked with this particular 14 year old female foster youth since last year and am no longer her assigned foster care social worker. Her story is an amazing story and I have worked hard to get it out to the public, in hopes to motivate upcoming social workers and the community. Those outside my line of work wonder why would I want to adopt her? But if you sat down and talked with her, then you would fully understand, both her potential and the connection we have (something I have been asking her CSW to do, to understand her). She has gone through tremendous changes since entering foster care. From being shy and having a very low self-esteem from years of being emotionally and physically abused to gaining self-confidence and self-esteem (having presented her story to 4 different graduate school classes and working with a city youth's article with 500k readers). She believes that she will become someone important and powerful. She had hit a low-point, however, during the month of November and December. She had felt absolutely alone in this world. Both parents had left the country when she was an infant. Her mom had left her with one of her friends (whom was the abuser). Unlike most foster children that have a connection to someone (healthy or unhealthy), she had absolutely no connection. None of my interventions would help improve her outlook. So in December, I had made a commitment to her that I would remain a part of her life for as long as I lived. Eventually in January, we talked about adoption and she wanted to be adopted by me. Before taking the next step, I knew that I would face a lot of heat and negative stigma from those outside my line of work, 3 challenges. First, I had ended my relationship with my fiance (which I was clear that it was not going to work - she was totally against adoption period and would not allow me to explain my reasons; core values differed - amplified by the fact that she was being unrealistic about the expensive cost of the wedding; her lack of independence). Secondly, Professional boundaries - did I cross my boundary while working with her? I am a man that upholds to very distinct values, which were created and embedded during my experience with sports and serving 4 years with the 101st Airborne as an infantryman. Every rule has their exceptions and this was it for me. Professional to me, is ensuring that she reaches her potential and she aspires to be a public defender for juveniles. Doing nothing and watching the system fail her was something that I would have regretted for the rest of my life. Lastly, I am a 31 year old male wanting to adopt a 14 year old female. Let's just say that the county DCFS, her CSW, had made child abuse allegations towards me. Since I work for a FFA, the process would have to entirely go through the county. Since the county and the state will both be conducting the investigation, I am not at all worried about the outcome, but frustrated by the fact that I am being accused. The only outcome that they will discover is that my heart was too big for county DCFS and it will only show their incompetence. County DCFS's mission is to ensure that children grow up safe, physically and emotionally healthy, educated and in permanent homes. In my case, having a non-qualified CSW (lack of education, no interpersonal communication skills, improper assessment skills, making false promises, etc.), her lack of involvement in attempting to identify her needs, and her many excuses of being too busy due to court reports does contradict the entire mission of DCFS. The CSW was more concerned with her job than the interest of my youth. What are your thoughts?

Please disregard, everything worked out at the end of this mess. Thanks to the checks and balances established between county and state.