Illinois families who want to expand through adoption may first want to become foster parents in the state. Many find a significant number of benefits come from foster parent adoption.
Child Welfare Information Gateway explains those advantages. Besides the comfort in adopting a child who is familiar with the family, foster parent adoption gives adoptive families another edge because they likely will have already met and gotten to know the birth parents. CWIG says they may have even worked together in the beginning to help return the child to his or her original home. This mutual understanding helps eliminate fears from both parties.
Another benefit of foster parent adoption is the background knowledge afforded to the fostering family. With that in place, the number of post-adoption surprises facing the parents may be fewer. On top of that, they have already grown accustomed to meeting the child’s needs, and CWIG says, “They are better able to respond…in a positive and appropriate way.”
Finally, it is impossible to overstate the positive effects of fostering on the relationship parents develop with agency workers. According to the CWIG, the deeper the understanding between families and caseworkers, the better the transition for the children who feel the impact most.
AdoptUSKids, a program of the U.S. Children’s Bureau, outlines the requirements for Illinois families who want to invest in the lives of children through foster parent adoption. Fingerprinting and background checks are a routine part of the process. Training classes are also mandatory, and someone will inspect the house to “make sure [there is] adequate space for a child.” Note that adoption does not cost anything, however, when adopting from Illinois’ foster care.