Foster Care and Adoption

Foster Care Temporary legal guardian – the state’s role in making most decisions for children Parents temporarily unable to provide care Parents retain limited rights Examples? 2002: 600,000 living outside home

Foster Care Who decides where to place children? Judges Social workers Family foster care: system of license families in each state who act as temporary parents for children who cannot live with their families. Foster family has temporary physical custody No legal custody

Foster Care Group homes: residence in which several children in foster care live together under the supervision and care of licensed individuals Kinship care: children placed with their relatives

Foster Care Foster care is a TEMPORARY solution Goal is family reunification Termination of parental rights occurs when judge finds child cannot return home If parental rights are terminated, child can be adopted by: Former foster care Relatives others

Emancipation Legal adulthood (16,18,21) Age depends on state No one has legal custody If under 21, state must provide “independent living services” Housing Job training education

Adoption Legal process by which an adult or adults become the legal parent(s) of another Few restrictions on who may adopt Marital status Religion Race Sexual orientation Age However, agencies and courts aim for traditional family structures

Adoption Public agencies Private agencies “go-betweens” – people who arrange adoptions between pregnant woman and family In some states, this is illegal (black market adoption)

Adoption Lengthy legal process Must be approved by the courts Attorney required for to ensure steps are legally appropriate Need written consent from birth parents In some states, judge can determine if adoption is in best interest of child Waiting period before adoption is legalized. Adoptive parents: physical custody Agency/birth parents: legal custody

Surrogate Surrogate mother: woman, other than wife, who agrees to be artificially inseminated with the husband’s sperm. Contract usually signed before birth Surrogate consents to child’s adoption by couple Releases all parental rights Some states require advance judicial approval of contract Adoptive Children Discussion Question: Should adopted children have a right to know who their birth parents are?

Generation Meds