|
There are red tape and hassles involved no matter how you choose to adopt a child! LOL! No way to avoid it, I'm afraid. And unfortunately, the state foster system is one of the hardest to navigate - at least when compared to traditional adoption or international adoption. But it can be done - you just have to hold on to your hat and prepare for a bumpy ride!
One thing to learn about the foster care system is that children without major issues are NOT sitting around waiting for homes. They've already got homes, because a child without major issues is what everyone else wants, too. You have a bit of an edge because you're interested in a child of up to 8 or 9 years old when most people want younger, you may be able to take in a sibling group when most people want a single child, and you're most interested in a biracial child when most people want a Caucasian child. But even then, finding a child who is *waiting* isn't so easy.
You see, most judges and case workers in this country want children to have as few moves in the foster care system as possible. So when a child comes into foster care, and it looks like the family isn't going to improve enough to get the child back, the worker starts THEN to look for an adoptive home for the child - even before the parents rights have been terminated. Many, many, many children in the foster care system have moved in with the families who will adopt them even before their parents rights are legally removed. Those children are never *waiting*.
It's the children who cannot find a home before their parents rights are terminated who end up *waiting*. And unfortunately, the children who are less physically, emotionally, or behaviorally healthy are less likely to find those foster-adopt homes - which means the children who are *waiting* often do not fit the description of the type of child you are looking for.
I'm not dissing your choice of how to adopt - not at all. We're adopting from foster care, too. I just don't want you to set yourself up for disappointment, thinking there are children you could parent who are just sitting around waiting for someone to match them up with parents. It isn't like that. If you're wanting to adopt a child who is literally sitting around hoping for a family to pick him, the foster care system probably isn't the way to go. It isn't the way to go if you want to minimize bureaucracy, either. But it's certainly the way to go if you have a calling to help children in this country, or a calling to parent an abused or neglected child. You just have to get used to the *parents* waiting to be matched with a child instead of the other way around, and get used to the red tape and politics. Not a bad trade-off, if you're able to accept it.
Good luck to you!
|