While you play the role as a foster parent you also have to be responsible for the child. The local authority and the child’s birth parents are ultimately responsible. However, you may share some of the decision-making powers. Adopting children is an act of parental responsibility. The child becomes a permanent member to your family.
Do you decide to foster or to adopt? Let’s now look at what the difference is between being approved to foster and adoptive parents.
What is the difference of fostering and adopting?
It’s essential to be familiar with the requirements of each approach if you are looking for the differences in adoption and fostering.
Of course, approvals are complex processes. However, it is possible to compare two approaches by simply looking at the core of each process.
Foster vs Adopt Approval Process
Adoption by a foster parent
The following are the requirements for being approved as a foster parent:
- You must have one bedroom spare for each foster child
- You should be at minimum 21 years old
- Your health must be in good condition
- A social worker needs to make a recommendation on behalf of the foster panel
- It is essential that you attend training sessions
Adoption approval
- Minimum of one year must be spent in the UK
- Minimum 21 years.
- One partner must live in the UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man permanently.
- Both a preparation and assessment process must be completed in two parts.
A two-part assessment of adoption
This two-part program is intended to help potential adopters get ready for their adoption application in six months. The first is to learn about adoption and give the adoption agency time so that they can check references. This process takes about two to three months.
The second stage takes approximately four to six months. It extends the assessment process and prepares potential adopters for the application process.
Fostering and adoption
How do I know if fostering and adoption are the right choice for me? Both options are similar in many respects. People who are interested in caring for children who may be traumatized or vulnerable should consider the effects on their lives. They must also be able love, care, and protect the child in a way which will make their lives enjoyable.
One of the major differences between adoption and fostering is the demand. The UK is home to approximately 75,000 children, young people and families in foster care. 6,800 of them need a family to care for them. This is because there are not enough foster parents in the country to care for these 6,800 kids.
It is difficult to accommodate them all in approved foster homes. It can be scary and stressful for young children who have been removed without the need to wait for foster homes.
On the other, each year, around 6,000 children are in desperate need of being adopted.
Foster v Adopt — Bringing a child home
You will find that your first placement occurs quickly once you are approved to be a foster parent. It is the same situation when an adopter is approved. This is due to more foster children in need of a home. However, there is a greater chance of finding a placement that suits the carers’ preferences.
Be aware that adopters may not always find the right match quickly. If a match is not available within three months, your information is submitted to the National Adoption Register. The National Adoption Register matches eligible adopters and children in need of adoption.
You have probably already had a preconceived conception of the child you would like to adopt. During the evaluation and assessment, you will be able to learn about the adoption process. This will change your expectations. For instance, an average adoption age in 2019 is about 12 years. There may also be sibling groups that should be adopted.
In your initial thought of adopting children, you may have been thinking about who they are. It might surprise you, however, to find out that many children are removed from their birth families as a result of abuse or neglect.
During the six months of the assessment, it is possible to have to shift your view about the child to which you are willing to adopt. You might need to assess your ability to work with those with medical needs or disabilities.
Adoption requires a lot of commitment. If the child is adopted, you will become the parent. This is an irrevocable agreement. Second-guesses are not allowed. The legal, social, as well as emotional repercussions of second-goes are severe. Although you may need to wait until the child is placed with a relative or agency support before the adoption order will be issued, you are now the family unit.
Fostering is when the child moves into your home temporarily. This is because the goal of foster care is to help the parent find a solution for their situation so that they can take the child back to their family home. Sometimes, the child’s relative is able take the child into his or her home. Other outcomes include permanent fostering and adoption.
Foster parents have a designated social worker to assist with any concerns and problems. Foster parents also receive an allowance to pay for child care costs. Foster parents can contact the fostering agency to get financial coverage if the child is suffering from special needs.
Adoption allowance
Adoption allowances will be subject to means tests. This means that certain adoptive parents won’t be eligible for the adoption allowance. The maximum adoption allowance determined by the fostering allocation that would otherwise apply to that child. Adoptive parents can request an assessment of the needs of their child. However funding for therapy and other services will not be available.
The cost to adopt
Adoption, while a foster parent is paid a weekly allowance per child for their efforts, can prove costly.
The Independent Adoption Panel charges between PS4,000 to PS9,000 for an application to adopt. Additionally, you must pay the Department of Education Ps885 for processing your application and providing your Certificate of Eligibility. The fee will increase to PS1,775 if your income is more than PS45,000
As part of the assessment, the agency needs to learn about your financial standing. It is vital to ensure that your financial situation can support the adoption of a child. It might surprise you to see how much it is to raise a family if you do have no children.
Who could be adopted?
Adoption requires two conditions:
- The child must have a minimum of 18 years old
- The adoption application cannot be filed if the child isn’t married or in a civil marriage.
Both the child’s biological mother or father must consent to adoption. Sometimes, this consent may be waived. This includes situations where the consent cannot be waived.
Foster care is where many of the children in the UK are found. There are many types and levels of foster care.
- Temporary This child is in an urgent situation. He or she needs to be safe for a few days.
- Short-term While a permanent solution to the child’s problem is determined, the temporary solution may be for several weeks or months.
- The long-term:Children who cannot live with or are in a position for adoption but are not physically able to, and therefore need long-term foster parents. Learn more about long-term foster care.
- RespiteCare:Â Children whose parents or foster carers have to be away are placed regularly with a foster home for short visits.
- Specially qualified fosterers:Children in custody require foster carer special training.
- Family & friends:Â Also known under the name kinship foster car, this refers to a situation in which the child lives with family members or close friends.
- Specialist Therapeutic:Â This kind of foster care caters to children and teenagers with challenging behaviors and/or complex needs.
Long-term fostering
Long-term foster care is also known by permanent fostering. The expectation is that young people will return to their families after they have been adopted.
The court will only issue an order if the situation can’t be corrected. This court order entitles the local authority to legal responsibility for the juvenile and requires that the local government find permanent homes for the child. In some cases, the adoption is possible.
Long-term foster care is an option. However, adoption is a better choice than long-term. It might be in the child’s interest to stay in contact with and visit their birth parents. This is often due the child’s desire to remain in contact with their family.
While contact might not be extensive, it can allow for a connection between a child and his or her birth parent. If the adopted child was to be raised by adoptive parents, they would have all parental rights. The child and birth parents would not be able to communicate with each other.
Foster parents can adopt?
Fostering is not an avenue to adoption. Although foster care can be a pathway to adoption, it is rarely a successful strategy. Foster children rarely become available to adopt. There are several issues you should address if you foster an adoptable child.
First, being approved as foster carer is different from being approved as an adoption parent. So you will have go through the approval procedure to adopt. You may also have to go through the approval process to adopt if you move from fostering to adoption. This is due to the fact that the birth parents already know who you are as a foster family.
Fostering for Adoption: Children in care are being evaluated with a view towards adoption. Potential adopters may foster the children while the decision is being made. This keeps the child from being moved around again.
This is where the local authority or the fostering agency examines the adopters and accepts them temporarily as foster carers for the child. Dual approval is also known. Dual approval families are considered foster parents. The birth family and local authority have parental responsibility. Foster carers are compensated a fostering fee. Adoption cannot be guaranteed.
Concurrent planning
Concurrent Planning is similar to fostering a child for adoption. The potential adopter fosters the child up until the decision is made on the child’s future. Concurrent planning can be used to foster babies and toddlers who are less than two years old.
The concurrent caregiver is a foster carer who works alongside the birth parents during an assessment. If the court decides adoption is the best option, then the child remains with the concurrent carer who can then adopt them.
Foster vs Adopt — It’s hard to make a decision
It can be difficult to decide whether you want to foster or adopt. It will impact so many aspects your life. There are also considerations regarding finances. Foster parents are supported fully by the local agency or authority they work with. Capstone is an independent fostering agency with experts nationwide who can assist with special needs and behavioural problems as well as learning disabilities.
You are not the only one trying to support your foster child and remain patient. There is also a strong network for carers who you can share your experiences.
There is a huge difference in the number of children or young people who require you. It means that you can foster many children while you wait to adopt one.
