Adopting Older Children By: Lisa Peterka CWRU – SASS 505 February 18, 2012

 For most people, the word “adoption” means infant adoption.  Adopting an older child, is typically defined as any child that is not an infant.  Older child adoption can be international or domestic.  Older children are typically adopted from the foster care system.  Adopting older children comes with a different set of rewards and challenges.  This presentation will provide information, education and resources around adopting “older” youth.

older_children.html This web site, resources for families with adoptive children, provides a general overview of adopting older children. What to expect, reactions youth may have, and how to help your child grieve his/her losses. Understanding that children adopted from foster care have pre-adoption experiences that may leave unresolved issues.

Adoption.com has a web page that focuses on domestic adoption of older youth from the foster care system. Challenges and advantages of older child adoption are shared. Parenting tips, resources, and discussion boards are available for additional information.

com/foster/ Adoption Information magazine has a website and this page focuses on adopting youth from the foster care system. Statistics on waiting children are provided. Articles, books, and links to resources on adoption from foster care and older children are provided.

doption/children/older.cfm Child Welfare Information Gateway has a web page that provides articles, statistics, legislation, information, and resources on adopting older children. Research on successful adolescent adoptions can be found on this site. Links tare provided hat would be valuable to professionals, teens, and perspective adoptive parents.

2007 CBS NEWS VIDEO ories/2003/12/22/earlyshow /living/parenting/main shtml This video focuses on youth adopted from the foster care system. It shares the story of a child adopted at the age of 10. There is a discussion about the challenges of finding permanent homes for children in foster care. Older youth are described as those over the age of 2.

This article is on the Adoption Information Center of Illinois website. This article shares the story of a young man adopted at the age of 17. This website provides information on parenting teenagers and the importance of sibling connectedness. Links are provided to additional resources about teenagers needing unconditional commitment and youth are never to old to be adopted. There is also a link to advice for foster parents.

tch?v=Xf9-S6352JM This is a 2 hour Pat O’Brien, MSW presentation given at Emery Law on the importance of finding homes for teenagers in the foster care system. Pat O’Brien is the founder of “You Gotta Believe” which is an organization dedicated to permanency for older youth. This is Pat O’Brien’s website for his You Gotta Believe Program. This website provides information on how to get involved, recruitment strategies for older youth in care. Success stories are also showcased on this website.

Extreme Adoption – Adopting youth close to aging out of foster care. om/watch?v=8BxuODs 6j4I This 9 minute video showcases 2 emancipated youth. Discussion was held about the importance of a forever family, even for teenagers. Pat O’Brien, MSW (founder of “You Gotta Believe”) is also featured in this clip, he is leading a movement to find homes for older youth in the foster care system. According to Pat O’Brien, 50% of the homeless population could be eradicated if the child welfare system did a better job at permanency for youth.

teen-adoption_x.htm This USA Today article written in 2006 discusses the importance of children in the foster care system needing permanent families. The focus is on teenagers and the poor outcomes they face when permanency is not achieved.

Adoptive Mother Testimony This 8 minute video shares one single mother’s story about adopting her 4 children. She shares how she made the decision to adopt older children instead of infants. She describes the difference between wanting the “baby” experience and wanting the “Mom” experience. Testimony provided discusses not only older child adoption, but transracial adoption as well. AmQI7wpG_yY

Foster Youth Speak This 8 minute video shares a project, “Wait No Longer”. Teenagers in care speak about their experiences, fears, and desires for permanency. watch?v=uRxSUA3BRwA

Adoptive Parent Resource om/ This is a book written by an adoptive parent of older children. The author refers to this as a guidebook for adoptive and perspective adoptive parents.

socwork/nrcfcpp/info_service s/youth-permanency.html The National Resource Center for permanency and family connections provides links to resources for professionals interested in permanency and connections for older youth in foster care. Information, training, tools and resources are provided.

“It has been said that adoption is more like a marriage than a birth: two (or more) individuals, each with their own unique mix of needs, patterns, and genetic history, coming together with love, hope, and commitment for a joint future. You become a family not because you share the same genes, but because you share love for each other.” -Joan McNamara Adoptive Parent