Foster Adoption

Before 1997, the adoption of foster children was a fraction of what it is now. The No. 1 goal of the foster care system is to reunite families, that part hasn't changed. However, the processing of adoptions and termination of parental rights has sped up considerably.

Depending on the state you're living in, foster adoption may require prospective parents looking to adopt from a public agency to be approved as both foster and adoptive parents. These are sometimes facilitated by fost-adopt or legal risk programs, in which children who are more likely to be adoptable in the next two years are placed with potentially permanent homes.

Foster adoption is preferred by most adoptive parents, case workers and foster children because it allows the child to adapt and integrate into the family at a slow, lifestyle pace. By the time the child is available for adoption, usually two years after being first brought into foster care, he or she will know whether or not the family is a good fit for the long-run. Emotional and behavioral issues will have had time to work themselves out over the two years the family fostered the child.

What can make foster adoption difficult is the lack of finalized permanency. This can make the future adopters and child anxious as they try not to become attached in the, unlikely, event that he or she never becomes available for adoption.