Sometimes people use the phrase “foster to adopt” as though it were the same as “rent to own.” We’re being a little bit flippant, but this is a real misunderstanding many people have. There isn’t a plan that allows you to foster a child with an intention to adopt and then adopt for free. If you want to grow your family by adopting a child and the cost feels like a barrier, then the idea of fostering for a while to pay your dues and then adopting can be very appealing.
That’s not how it works.
The purpose of the foster system in Arkansas
Faster parents in Arkansas provide safe, stable homes for children who can’t safely live with their birth parents. There are many reasons that a child might end up in the foster system, but one thing they all have in common: they need a home right away. In order to meet this need for all these children, the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) recruits and trains people who are willing to care for children on an emergency basis. As the DCFS explains, “The mission of DCFS is to keep children safe and help families.”
The top goal of foster care is to reunite families. Parents who have been unable to care for their children are given assistance with the idea of bringing their children home to them once they are able to provide a good home for their kids.
If it is impossible to return the children safely to their parents, the next choice is to find a family member to adopt the child or serve as guardian. Only if it is impossible to reunite the nuclear family or to arrange kinship adoption is it possible for the foster family to adopt their foster child.
Foster to adopt?
This is why the phrase “foster to adopt” is not accurate. Families who feel led to foster children are encouraged to apply to become foster parents. Parents who want to adopt a child from foster care are encouraged to apply to become adoptive parents.
You can do both.
If you are approved as an adoptive home, you can get information about children in foster care whose parents have relinquished them for adoption. These children are available for adoption; their parents have given up their parental rights or those rights have been terminated. Children whose parents are deceased may also be in foster care.
If you are approved as a foster care home, you will be able to foster children while the DCFS works to reunite their birth families or find another family member prepared to care for them. If your foster child becomes available for adoption, you can apply to adopt that child.
Other adoption possibilities
Some children needing adoption do not go into the foster care system. You may already know a child in this position, or you may be interested in adopting a newborn who will then not have to go into foster care. If this is your situation, you need an adoption lawyer. Heimer Law is an Arkansas adoption firm with the experience and expertise you need to complete your adoption journey.
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