The Importance Of Adoption In America

Foster Care and Adoption are the most multi-faceted areas of child welfare. Foster care consists of placing children outside of the custody of their parents or legal guardians. This out-of-home placement can be temporary or long-term. Adoption on the other hand, consists of the legal and permanent process that establishes a parent/child relationship between individuals not related biologically (Downs, Moore, & McFadden, 2009). These two areas of child welfare are constantly evolving and the decisions made on a child’s behalf can affect many areas of their biological, spiritual, social, and emotional wellbeing.

Foster care is something that 400,000 children in the United States, go through. I have personally been through this myself. To improve foster care for children, I have created a website along with an app. The name of both the website and app is Foster To Success. Foster To Success will especially be useful for foster youth, social workers, potential adopters, foster parents, and any additional people, who work with foster youth. But it can also be useful if you are going through a hard time. The app is free and available on iOS devices at the App Store, and on Andriod devices on GooglePlay. If you would like additional features the cost is ninety nine cents. I believe this will help improve foster care and help make it an easier transition for the children.

In the United States there are over a half a million children in the foster care system. (AFCARS Report, 2015) The foster care system is a temporary arrangement for children whose parents are not able to care for them. (adopt.org) Foster care can be arranged through the courts or a social service agency. The goal for a child in the foster care system is usually reunification with the birth family, but may be changed to adoption when this is seen as in the child's best interest.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and an average middle-aged couple who’s baby was born last year (2016) can expect to spend over $245,000 to raise their child, this is not including paying for college. If you are planning on adopting, you may end up spending an extra $40,000, or even more that year. According to The Child Welfare Information Gateway states the facts that an average U.S. adoption costs between $8,000-$40,000. If you plan on adopting a child from another country, then the costs range from $15,000-$30,000. If you plan on adopting through a foster care where the average age of a child is 9 years old, this generally involves you becoming a “parent” of an older child, and the cost is much lower because of that, ranging from $0-$2,500. In December of 2013, It was required that Councils will be required to maintain funding for all foster children until they are 21 years of

Which all depends on how much the lawyer decides to charge you. Additional to the first two requirements, you have to pay the medical bills for the mother and baby, which can range from 4,000 up to 15,000 dollars depending on the mother’s health and the health of the baby (Horin). When all the costs add up the total price is not cheap and an average adoptive parent might need help financially.

There are no fees collected by the Department of Social Services (DSS) to become an adoptive parent; however, sufficient income to care for your current family members and any potential adopted child must be proved before an adoption is granted

Approximately 400,000 children are in foster care. In 2014, 650,000 children spent time in the foster care system at some point (Children's Right, n.d.). Many children live in the foster care system for at least two years. Every two minutes in the United States a child enters the system. Fifty-two percent of the children in foster care are males and forty-eight percent of them are females. Thirty-nine percent of the children are five years old and younger (Foster Club, 2014). Children being placed in foster care could be more likely to commit a crime in the future, drop out of school, or develop a mental health diagnosis. If a foster youth has multiple placements, then he or she will have negative effects. Decreasing the number of multiple placements that a single child has in foster care then the less of a chance that child will go through negative effects.

Foster care is intended to be a short term solution until a permanent placement can be made. Generally, the first choice of adoptive parents is a relative such as an aunt, uncle, or grandparent, known as kinship care”(Foster Care Wikipedia). If no relative is willing or able to take the child into their home, they move on to the next alternative, which is a close friend or someone else involved in the child’s life such as a teacher or coach. If a parent willingly put their child into foster care because of reasons like disabilities,physical or mental, financial problems, or sexuality, that is known as voluntary placement. Involuntary placement is when a child is removed from their legal guardian, due to abuse or neglect to the child. When a child is placed into a foster home, the foster parents are responsible for the child's well-being (Wikipedia). Adopt us Kids says, “When a child is placed in your home, you will need to ensure their well-being in that their emotional, medical, dental, and educational needs are being met”(Being a Foster Parent). Adopt us kids also states, “For Sleeping arrangements, most children may share bedrooms. They must have a separate bed and children of the opposite sex can only share a room if they are under the age specified by the state”(Adopt Us Kids). This can also be waived to keep siblings together and in sight of each other. If a babysitter is needed for the foster child, they will need to be at least eighteen years or older, or approved by the state, if that state has certain

More than half a million kids are currently in the foster care. The huge number of children in the foster care is a concern since the system requires financial and human costs for its maintenance. The foster system needs to change in order to ensure that the children spend less time in the system and the foster homes and families become more competent in providing the needed protection and care. The system also needs to change to assist young adults who have aged out in the foster system to transition into independent living. The child welfare system is badly broken and as a result, children placed under foster care can suffer serious harm.

The Hague was ratified in 2007 in the United States and outlines the procedure for inter-country adoption for citizens of countries that have adopted it. Before an adoption can take place, it must be established that the child is adoptable, meaning that the proper authorities have made efforts in pursuit for the child to be adopted within the country and that the child does not have a suitable family to care for him. (Article 4) After the child is deemed adoptable, with the child’s best interest always at the forefront, one needs to attain consent in writing from the birth mother and the proper authorities, it is forbidden for such consent to be induced by payment of any sort. (Article 4) Also, after weighing the factors of the child’s age and maturity, the child needs to be counseled, his wishes and opinions need to be considered, and only after he has freely consented without any form of bribe, then the process can continue. (Article 4)

Adoption is a beautiful system that allows for families to raise a child that could have otherwise been in bad situations. These children are taken in by a family and are given a fresh start. Children can be adopted from birth until they are eighteen years old, but thousands of these children in need are not given the opportunity of adoption because of the extravagant cost. An adoption ranges anywhere from $6,000 to $50,000 and because of this Adopt Together says, “Cost is the number one reason families don’t adopt.” There is a long list of fees that rack up the price that include legal fees, home studies, agency cost, and many more. The extravagant cost of adoption can and should be lowered in order that more families can provide a loving home to children in need.

Did you know that there are over 135,000 children adopted in the United States each year? (pbs.org) Adoptions are formed by open, closed or an international adoption. The adoption process is very long and hard, and full of various background checks and interviews, but they fail to conduct the most important test, a mental test for the adoptee and adoptive parent. A person's mental health is the extremely important, especially when considering taking care of another person. Mental health plays an important part when selecting the perfect home for a child or if the child needs to seek help before they can join a family. The mentality of a foster child is very fragile depending on their history and how much the child has have been through. A weak

If you have ever considered adoption, then you have most likely noticed that adopting a child under the age of three is significantly more expensive than adopting a child older than three. As we began researching to adopt our own child, my husband and I were dumbfounded by the extreme price to adopt an infant to a toddler. As we looked further we released that the cost of adoption outweighs the cost of abortion by, at the very least, $4000 dollars. As a mother, I was in astonishment to discover this information. I was drawn to further my research to help me, and others like me, to understand the fees behind the extreme cost of adoption in the United states.

These fees can total anywhere from $4,300-$39,300. (Independent Adoption Center). Of course there are reasons for these fees.

Following your choice of which type of adoption to go with, you will need to decide on how many children you will adopt. Countless people choose to adopt, regardless, if you are deciding to adopt 1 child or 10 children you have made an enormous decision. Offering a family to a child that feels like he/she belong nowhere is life altering. As seen with Staci and Eric Dennis of Virginia who decided they would try to ensure that at least one person did not go through life without a family. After going to classes, then getting certified they adopted Kylie, according to Staci, the changes in Kylie after the adoption was like watching a butterfly come out of the cocoon in fast motion (Dennis). According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) as of September 30, 2015 there were 427,910 children in the foster care system just in the United States. While 243,060 left the system in 2015, another 269,509 entered the system during the same year. Although, these numbers change daily, there is no shortage of children waiting for a family; as of September 30, 2015, there were 111,820 children waiting to be adopted in the US. Some of these children have been separated from their parents, but are still with their siblings. If you have the option combined with the means to adopt siblings it can help your children’s adjustment to their new home. Siblings often have strong connections, even those that are not close in age. According to Lynne and Santiago Class who