With thousands of children nationwide waiting to be adopted, many individuals and families do not apply to foster or adopt children due to the misconceptions about what it takes to help a child in need. Children’s Bureau, one of the largest private, nonprofit adoption agencies in California, hopes to clarify what it really means to foster and/or adopt a child.
Families partnering with Children’s Bureau need to have the willingness, ability and resources to protect and nurture children, meet developmental needs and address delays, support relationships with the child’s birth families, connect the child to safe and nurturing relationships intended to last a lifetime and be willing and able to work as a member of a professional team. Beyond these minimum requirements, there are specifics that are many times misconstrued.
For instance, individuals do not have to be married to foster or adopt a child. They need to be a minimum age of 21 years old and have the ability to care for a child of the age for which they show interest. A working parent needs to have the backup of either family members or a friend who can transport the child in the event that they cannot. There are monitored visits with birth parents, visits to the doctor and dentist and after-school activities including sports or music lessons for older children. The working parent must be willing and able to pay for childcare out of the stipend for the child the hours he/she is not available. It is important to research the cost of childcare prior to having a child in the home so there are no financial surprises.
Furthermore, individuals do not have to own their home. They can live in a house, condo or an apartment. They can share a home, if the other person is fingerprinted and has no criminal history. There needs to be space for a child. A baby must have the ability to move into a room when he/she turns two but can share the parent’s room until then. Children are able to share rooms.
Adoption is not expensive. Both foster care and adoption offer stipends to help with the care of the child. The minimum monthly stipend is $846 (recently increased) for a child and goes higher with the age of the child. The stipend continues until the child returns to their family, goes to an adoptive home if the family is not adopting, or is adopted by the foster family. Once adopted, the foster family currently receives a stipend of about $400 from the federal government until the child turns 18 years old and in some cases 21 years old. There is a federal tax deduction for adoption that you may ask your accountant about to determine your eligibility. The process of applying and becoming a foster/adoptive parent costs around $400 and includes fingerprint clearances, DMV clearances, CPR/1st Aid and miscellaneous costs. These are considered non-recurring expenses that can be submitted to the county where you adopt for reimbursement up to $400.
It does not take a long time to become a foster or foster/adoptive parent. In most cases, if documents are completed in a timely manner, it takes three-to-four months to become a Certified Foster Adoptive Parent. The stipend begins when a child arrives at your home.
For those interested in learning more, Children’s Bureau is holding an information meeting on Saturday, November 22 at the Westfield Valencia Town Center Community Room, 24201 W. Valencia Boulevard, Valencia, or call 661-208-4212 or visit Children’s Bureau’s website at www.all4kids.org.