[BlueDreams1978]

Hello all,

I'm a newbie here and to the Foster Care process in general (my husband and I have orientation on Tuesday). Initially, we'd like a little boy between 9 months and 3 years old as a Foster-to-adopt placement. My questions are:

In your experiences, do placements take longer for certain age groups?

Is it more likely for DSS to reunite toddler aged children with their bios?


I'm looking forward to any input.

J

P.S. This forum is awesome! I've searched all over the web for Foster Care msgboards and this one is the best by far.

[stevenstwin]

It CAN definitely happen for you - there are even people here who've taken a newborn home from the hospital and ultimately been able to adopt! But, yes, it is true tha the littler ones are in "high demand". There are fewer of them overall (and I think a part of the reason for this is because a lot of kids come into care when a daycare or school notices abuse), and they generally are more likely to go home, since parents are given so many chances. (heck, my foster son first came into care at 18 months old, and they kept sending him back over and over and didn't finally TPR until he was 14! On the other hand, by that time he had 2 and 3 year old siblings that were also TPR'd)Usually if you do get a really young one it is because they already have older siblings in the system.

Originally Posted by BlueDreams1978

Hello all,

I'm a newbie here and to the Foster Care process in general (my husband and I have orientation on Tuesday). Initially, we'd like a little boy between 9 months and 3 years old as a Foster-to-adopt placement. My questions are:

In your experiences, do placements take longer for certain age groups?

Is it more likely for DSS to reunite toddler aged children with their bios?


I'm looking forward to any input.

J

P.S. This forum is awesome! I've searched all over the web for Foster Care msgboards and this one is the best by far.

[BlueDreams1978]

Originally Posted by stevenstwin

It CAN definitely happen for you - there are even people here who've taken a newborn home from the hospital and ultimately been able to adopt! But, yes, it is true tha the littler ones are in "high demand". There are fewer of them overall (and I think a part of the reason for this is because a lot of kids come into care when a daycare or school notices abuse), and they generally are more likely to go home, since parents are given so many chances. (heck, my foster son first came into care at 18 months old, and they kept sending him back over and over and didn't finally TPR until he was 14! On the other hand, by that time he had 2 and 3 year old siblings that were also TPR'd)Usually if you do get a really young one it is because they already have older siblings in the system.

Wow. That's exactly what the instructor/SW said during orientation! Thank you for your input I'm remaining optimistic about everything.

J