There are many children who are currently in foster care in Mississippi and in need of a permanent home where they can grow and thrive. There are many people in Mississippi who wish to give these children a home. However, it is important to have a basic understanding of how foster care adoption works.
First, prospective parents will need to call the foster/adoption hotline for information, and then submit an application. Second, an evaluation will take place in order to ascertain whether the prospective parents meet the minimum requirements for being an adoptive parent. Some requirements, among others, include: how old the prospective parents are; how long they have been married; and what their income is. After this, the prospective parents may be put on a waiting list.
Third, prospective parents will go through five weekly training sessions. These sessions will provide prospective parents with information about adopting through foster care. For example, they will learn how a child is placed in the foster care system, how to talk to the child about adoption, how to manage the child’s behavior and how the process of separation and attachment works.
Fourth, there will be a home study. This will involve being interviewed by a social worker several times. These interviews will go over the practical and emotional aspects of adoption. This will help both the prospective parents and the social worker decide if the prospective parents are good candidates to adopt a child, and what child’s personality would be a good fit.
Fifth is the placement of the child with the prospective parents. The first visits will be short, and over time will expand to overnight visits. Once everyone, including the prospective parents, the child and the social worker are ready, the child will be placed in the prospective parents’ care.
Finally, after a child is residing in the prospective parents’ home, the social worker will follow up a number of times to make sure everyone is adjusting properly. This could last as long as six months, until it is determined that the child can formally be adopted by the prospective parents via a court proceeding.
As this shows, there are many steps to the adoption process. While these steps may seem arduous to people who simply want to be loving parents to a child in need, they are in place to make sure the adoption is a good fit.
Source: mdcps, “How to Adopt a Child Through Foster Care,” Accessed July 24, 2017