Foster Care Adoption – What You Need to Know!

One of the best gifts that any foster parent working with family law attorneys can give to a child in the foster system is a loving and permanent home.

Foster child adoptions are possible in some circumstances when foster families wish to make their foster child a permanent part of their family.

Before getting their hopes up, it is important that families wishing to adopt from the foster system understand how this process works and that not every child can be adopted.

It is also essential to bring an experienced family lawyer into the mix who can help guide parents through the process most easily.

Foster Care Adoptions In Texas

Texas permits foster child adoptions by foster parents if and when a child becomes available for adoption.

It is actually a great way for parents interested in adopting to be able to do just that.

While most children in the Texas foster care system do not become available for adoption, it is a wonderful thing for those children who do become eligible for adoption to remain with their foster families permanently.

To achieve this, families who enter the foster care system with a goal of eventually adopting should meet with a family law attorney experienced in foster adoptions so they are prepared to act should the circumstance arrive where they can adopt.

The process can be challenging, especially when children are returned to their biological parents; however, for those willing to wait out the process until the perfect situation arrives, being ready to act can help.

Which Children Can Be Adopted Through Foster Care?

Family lawyers advise their clients that before any child can be adopted from foster care, the legal parent’s rights must be terminated.

Knowing this, foster child adoptions frequently involve long periods of waiting, with no guarantees of outcome.

Obviously, this is easier if parental rights are voluntarily given up, although most parents wish to eventually get their children back by fulfilling the court’s requirements to improve their personal circumstances in order to parent again.

Parental rights may also be involuntarily terminated by the Texas family court if there are reasons why the child should not be returned to the biological parents.

Qualifying to Adopt Through Foster Care

While waiting to find out whether a child will become available for adoption, family law attorneys recommend that prospective adoptive parents go through the qualification process ahead of time.

The first part of this process involves qualifying to be a foster parent, which includes background checks, personal reference checks, completing a foster care training course and repeating it each year, TB testing, and receiving as well as maintaining a first aid and CPR certificate.

After receiving a Texas foster care license, parents who wish to be considered for adoption through fostering must then complete a foster care adoption home study course and undergo additional background checks as well as personal clearances, which a family lawyer can assist with.

These in-depth clearances will likely include in-home interviews and other social, medical, and financial checks, so having the help of a lawyer may be important.

After passing all qualifications and maintaining any licenses and certificates, parents hoping to adopt through foster care can then wait in confidence to see if their foster child becomes available for adoption.

Prepare for Foster Child Adoption With a Family Law Attorney

Adopting a child is a happy moment for all involved and when that event involves foster child adoption, the occasion can be even more special.

Texas family law attorneys experienced with adoption through foster are there to help every step of the way.

While it is important to remind hopeful adoptive parents that not every foster child will become available to adopt, the final adoption process for those who do is the same as any other adoption.

Having a family adoption lawyer to help out will make certain that the process goes as smoothly as possible.