Adopting A Waiting Child - Step by Step

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For the purpose of this article, the term "waiting child" refers to a child in the care of U.S. public welfare and foster care programs for whom adoption is a permanency option.

Related Resources

•Adopting Parents Center
•From Fostering to Adopting
•Glossary of Terms
•Special Needs Adoption
•Waiting Child Photolistings

The steps to adopting a waiting child in the U.S. foster care system are similar to those in private agency and independent adoption, with some important differences.

What You Need to Know

There are several ways to approach adoption through the U.S. foster care system:

Adoption of a child who has already been, or will be within a short period of time, legally released for adoption (parental rights terminated or relinquished);

Accept placement of a child, where the child's reunification with biological family is still a possibility. If reunification or other in-family placement isn't effected within a certain period of time, the child will be released for adoption by you (known as Foster-Adoption or Fost/Adopt). The process of working toward more than one goal for a child (reunification with parents, placement with family, adoption) is known as concurrent planning);

Foster parent adoption, where licensed foster parents proceed to adopt a child in their care.

In the first two instances, parents go through the complete adoption homestudy process, parenting classes, and other education and training prior to placement of the child/children in their home. In the third case, placement of the child/children is made in the home of licensed foster parents who, before moving on to adoption, will require an approved homestudy.

Steps to Adoption