Adoption And Foster Care

Posted in Legal Information - Juvenile Law

Adoption And Foster Care – You Can Make A Difference

by KathyPerdue in Babies

You do not have to be a celebrity like Angelina Jolie or Madonna to become an adoptive parent or a foster parent. All you need is to have a big heart, a kind soul, patience that stretches 360 degrees, and a steady means of income. Adoption and foster care is a challenging endeavor that should be anchored on sound decision and not on whim or impulse.

What is the difference between adoption and fostering? Adoption involves a legal process in transferring your parental rights to the child on a permanent basis while fostering is temporary in nature and the goal is to return the children to their respective families where they are expected to have a lasting emotional bond that strengthens their sense of acceptance. However, most of the children who are adopted were foster children themselves who no longer are able to return to their birth families. A law in the U.S. was legislated to fast track the availability for adoption of children who languished in foster homes without a chance of getting back to their biological parents or families. This allowed more children to have a greater chance of improving their lives and preparing them physically, mentally and emotionally to survive in a sometimes cruel society.

Ideally, a child’s future is better off in an environment where the biological parents take responsibility in nurturing for the child. That is why their stay in a foster home is supposedly limited and reuniting them with their own families is the best solution to an impending problem of juvenile delinquency or a messed up adult life. There is no assurance however that their conditions will improve if the family continues to have problems within, but the odds are stronger for the child when reunited with his or her parents.

There are several reasons why children are placed under foster care. The more common conditions include physical and verbal abuse, parental neglect that is detrimental to the health and well being of the child, sexual abuse and incarceration of the legal guardian due to a crime committed. The psychological and emotional stress that the child is exposed to may take a heavy toll in their perception or the lack of it of what a normal person or a conventional society is.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 273,000 children placed in foster care for the year 2008 with an average age of 8 years old, and the majority of whom were infants and children up to 4 years of age. The number of teenagers with ages ranging from 13 to 17 years were quite significant also. More than half of these children returned to their respective families while about 20% were adopted. As of September 30, 2008, there were 123,000 children waiting for adoption.

Adoption and foster care is a reality in our society particularly in highly urbanized areas where the environment is so fast paced and competition is fierce that parents and individuals alike tend to neglect nurturing the fundamentals of a healthy family relationship. The growing number of divorced parents has also contributed in challenging the ideals of a basic institution which is the family. However, these are inevitable changes that our society has to recognize, and for as long as there are individuals like you who will take on the responsibility of ensuring that children without parents and families have the opportunity to taste and enjoy that sense of belonging, then you will have made a difference.

Colby Brister is a writer for My Baby Bedding Shop and is the loving parent of two. His children are all grown up now but he loves writing about children and giving tips on certain scenarios that parents are faced. Colby would like for you to check out his glenna jean crib bedding and glenna jean spa Collection.

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