New to all this. Few questions.

Welcome! I am not sure if you are a licensed foster parent yet, but if not, you will have to become one first. If you are already that is great- that is a big hurdle overcome. (I am assuming the child you mention is in foster care?) If you are not a foster parent yet, you will have to take the STARS classes, which take about three months, and also have a homestudy completed. Then you must take the SPAULDING class which is a day and a half. You can take this class anytime though, even after the child has moved in with you. The entire homestudy process for us took about 4-5 months, but that can vary. The cost for all of this should very minimal, if any. The child also has to be available for adoption or at least be legal risk, meaning the goal is adoption, but the parents rights haven't been terminated yet. As far as adopting from a residential facility, the process itself is the same. However, you will want to make sure you have the full background information on the child. The team will want to make sure you feel you can meet his needs, if the team wants him to end up in a home. Every once in a while, it is determined that a residential facility is the best place for the child. But normally a home environment is the first choice, just depends on the case. If he is available for adoption, you can let his case worker know that you are interested. If you are already a foster parent, they will request your home study from your licensing worker. If you are not, then the next step will depend on other factors. If they are wanting to match him with a family soon, they may not wait until you have your home study completed. But if they have been trying to match and have not had any luck, they may wait for your home study. It really depends. I hope I have helped some. If you already knew some of this info, I apologize. If you are interested in adopting from foster care, I highly recommend you go ahead and become a licensed foster parent anyway. If it doesn't work out for this boy, there WILL be other opportunities to adopt (especially in our state), and then your home study would be ready to go. As far as age, I don't know you old you are (not sure if you thinking you are too young or too old :) ), but you have to be at least 21. There is no maximum age limit, but judges do like to be realistic about it. I know of another foster parent in my area who is in her 70's that was in the process of adopting her 2 year old FS. The judge was leery, and would only approve it, if she was in a "co-parenting" arrangement with her daughter. I don't know if he was technically adopted by both, of if they worked out some other formal arrangement. But they will try to work with you and also make sure the child has a stable forseeable future. The goal is just to make sure the child has stability in some way. Good luck in your process. Feel free to ask more questions or PM me if you prefer.

Im 22, I know the age is 21 I guess I just wanted to know if a lot of younger people foster lol. I have not done anything yet. Where do I go for STARS classes? Ifi take these classes I can take my time with fostering right? Like if I take all the class and complete everything do we go by my time or theirs? Just asking because I think Im moving in december? Im just trying to take this one step at a time sorry if I seem completly uneducated, Im new to it just learningas much as I can. Thanks

I am not sure of the exact statistics, but I imagine there are not as many younger ones, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it if you are ready. :) If you haven't started anything yet, I recommend you contact your local Children's Division office and talk to the foster parent/adoption group. You can locate the number for your office by using this link and entering the county you are in. [url=http://dss.mo.gov/cd/office/]Children’s Division Offices[/url] It will give you the main phone number. Let them know you are interested in becoming a foster parent. They will guide you to the right person and probably set up an initial meeting to discuss the process with you. They will tell you what is involved and give you a realistic idea of what to expect. If you are moving in December, that will make things more difficult, especially for this particular boy you are interested in. If you are moving out of state, it will be even more difficult if not impossible. I don't want to discourage you in any way, but often when folks become foster parents for a specific child, it does not always end up working out. I am not saying it won't, I just want to prepare you for a realistic possibility. And if it doesn't, there is a great need for foster parents. Like I said before if it doesn't work out for this boy, there will be others. (I know that may not make you really feel any better, but just pointing out options.) Good Luck!

Hi,Just wanted to say I became a foster parent to adopt a specific, older child. It took longer than it should but it did happen! Hang in there, do your research and keep your head in the game.

Thank You all so very much! :)