Foster-to-Adopt Basic Requirements
Adopting from Foster Care
- There is no age limit; an adoptive or foster parent must be at least 21 years old.
- One parent in the household must speak English.
- Couples or single women and men, with our without children, may apply for adoption. (Both parents must apply and both must complete all procedures and paperwork in order to be placed with a child.)
- Applicants are required to have a stable income sufficient to meet existing family needs.
- Applicants may own or rent their residence.
- Persons who are active with the protective services unit of a child welfare agency are NOT eligible to adopt or foster.
- Applicants must be in reasonable good health.
- A physician must complete an agency health form and TB test for all individuals 18 years or older living in the applicants household (requirements vary by state).
- No parent or any member of the family household may have been convicted of any offense related to child abuse or other violent assaultive behavior. A police clearance, child abuse registry clearance and FBI Clearance of all applicants and household members age 14 and over is required by state law.
Foster-to-Adopt
Foster-to-Adopt
In a foster-to-adopt placement, a child or teen is placed in a home before the child’s biological parents’ or guardians’ parental rights have been legally terminated. Many times, while a child is in a foster home, they become eligible for adoption. Because of their commitment to the children placed in their home, many of our families that have been certified for foster care make the decision to adopt these children once parental rights have been terminated.
Identifying interested families willing to foster-to-adopt reduces the number of moves a child makes and allows relationships to evolve prior to the adoption. Because both the parent and child have had time to build a relationship, both parties enter the adoption with a better sense of what to expect. The Bair Foundation is able to provide necessary support services and facilitate the adoption of foster children and teens who are currently in care, as they become eligible for adoption.
Adoption
The Bair Foundation believes that children grow best in families. There are approximately 107,000 children in the US foster care system waiting on a forever family. The Bair Foundation provides various adoption services, depending on location. For more information on specific services, please visit our offices page and contact the Bair office closest to you.
Bair can assist with:
- Child Preparation Services
- Child Profiles
- Family Profile/Family Preparation
- Child Specific Recruitment
- Finalization
Medically Needy Adoption
3% of children that come into the foster care system have complex medical needs and multiple health issues. These children come into State care when their birth families cannot afford or manage their severe medical problems. Many of these children also have a need for a forever family. As an alternative to placing them in a nursing home, we train foster families to meet their specialized medical needs in a home setting. We believe that a skilled, nurturing foster family can help a child not only thrive physically but emotionally as well. In some instances, these families desire to adopt these special children they have long cared for.