It is never easy to say goodbye to someone you have formed a bond with, even when the relationship was intended to be temporary. Adults providing foster care find themselves saying goodbye when foster children return to their biological parents, are adopted, or move to another foster home. Courts and social workers usually want the transition to happen quickly, increasing the stress level.
To make things easiest for the child, adults should try to make the process last at least one month. An initial visit together to the new home for at least half a day should be arranged. After the child visits several more times alone, arrange for a weekend stay for the youth, even if the child will be returning to the biological family. This approach makes the transition smoother, placing less trauma on the child.
Schedule a meeting with the therapist, new parents, and the child. Discuss similarities in parenting and determine how to incorporate both sets of rules into the new living situation to encourage continuity. By proceeding at a pace the child is comfortable with, there should be few incidents of acting out by the youth.
Drastic change due to a new living situation can cause a foster child to regress. Aiming for continuity is in the best interest of the youth. Otherwise, behavior like lying, tantrums, and running away may surface. Rather than cutting ties with the child completely, maintain contact via telephone, email, and face-to-face.
Once the child has transitioned to the new home, foster parents should continue to express their love and concern. It is important to remind the child that someone is there, no matter what happens. If any acting out does occur, it should be immediately addressed with empathy and by reinforcing the positive aspects of the new situation.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Reducing The Costs Of Adoption
Adopting is very fulfilling for both the adoptive parents and the child. However, it does not come without its costs. Adults who think they are unable to afford the cost of adopting should explore some of the available cost-cutting resources. Federal, state, and private sources offer ways for adults to defray the costs of adopting a child.
With the tax year that an adoption is finalized, a tax credit is offered by the Internal Revenue Service. For 2011, the maximum tax credit for child is $13,170 for individuals whose modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is less than $182,180. Those whose MAGI exceeds this amount but is less than $222,180 are entitled to a reduced tax credit.
Several states offer state tax credits to adults adopting children from within the state child welfare system. To learn more, contact a state adopting specialist. Those who adopt children from the U.S. public foster care system are often entitled to state or federally-funded adoption subsidies. Medical conditions of the child may qualify for Social Security Income payments and Medicaid coverage.
Special needs children may be entitled to an ongoing adoption subsidy for treatment or therapy. This should be negotiated with the placement agency before finalizing the adoptive arrangement. After they adopt a special needs child from the public child welfare system, adults may be able to receive reimbursement of expenses like attorney fees, travel costs, and home study charges. A monetary cap of $2,000 or less is established by each state.
Employers sometimes offer benefits to adopting employees like unpaid or paid leave, partial reimbursement of adopting expenses, and even referral assistance with the arrangement itself. Adoptive families can also apply for a loan through the National Adoption Foundation. Included in the program are unsecured loans and home equity loans, with interest and payments helping other adoptive parents.
With the tax year that an adoption is finalized, a tax credit is offered by the Internal Revenue Service. For 2011, the maximum tax credit for child is $13,170 for individuals whose modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is less than $182,180. Those whose MAGI exceeds this amount but is less than $222,180 are entitled to a reduced tax credit.
Several states offer state tax credits to adults adopting children from within the state child welfare system. To learn more, contact a state adopting specialist. Those who adopt children from the U.S. public foster care system are often entitled to state or federally-funded adoption subsidies. Medical conditions of the child may qualify for Social Security Income payments and Medicaid coverage.
Special needs children may be entitled to an ongoing adoption subsidy for treatment or therapy. This should be negotiated with the placement agency before finalizing the adoptive arrangement. After they adopt a special needs child from the public child welfare system, adults may be able to receive reimbursement of expenses like attorney fees, travel costs, and home study charges. A monetary cap of $2,000 or less is established by each state.
Employers sometimes offer benefits to adopting employees like unpaid or paid leave, partial reimbursement of adopting expenses, and even referral assistance with the arrangement itself. Adoptive families can also apply for a loan through the National Adoption Foundation. Included in the program are unsecured loans and home equity loans, with interest and payments helping other adoptive parents.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Making School Personnel More Sensitive To Adoption
Disagreement exists between adoptive parents regarding whether teachers should be informed that a child is adopted. Some parents do not reveal the situation because they feel that teachers may have a bias one way or the other. Other parents think the teacher should know the history of the child, including any past issues.
Adoptive parents can do several things to increase the level of sensitivity that school personnel exhibit toward adoption issues. Providing teachers, counselors, and principles with information regarding positive relevant language and encouraging them to use it is a good start. Donating a book about adopting to the school library or, for international adoptees, one about the culture of the child’s home country may also be helpful.
Some adoptive parents take a more direct approach by making a presentation regarding adoption at a faculty meeting. In some cases, they present jointly with an experienced worker from the local adopting agency. Children may encounter other types of loss issues similar to adopting issues, making the information relevant to the entire student body.
Local adoption conferences may be open to the public and adoptive parents should encourage teachers to attend. The adults can also promote the formation of an adopted child support group, similar to the group for children of divorced parents. If a curriculum review committee exists, adoptive parents should volunteer to be on it. This is one way to ensure that positive messages regarding adopting are incorporated into the curriculum.
Upon request, the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse will distribute information regarding adopting to schools. Adoptive parents should obtain additional relevant information from national organizations like the National Adoption Center, the North American Council on Adoptable Children, and Adoptive Families of America. By educating school faculty and staff regarding adopting, adoptive parents make the school years easier for their children.
Adoptive parents can do several things to increase the level of sensitivity that school personnel exhibit toward adoption issues. Providing teachers, counselors, and principles with information regarding positive relevant language and encouraging them to use it is a good start. Donating a book about adopting to the school library or, for international adoptees, one about the culture of the child’s home country may also be helpful.
Some adoptive parents take a more direct approach by making a presentation regarding adoption at a faculty meeting. In some cases, they present jointly with an experienced worker from the local adopting agency. Children may encounter other types of loss issues similar to adopting issues, making the information relevant to the entire student body.
Local adoption conferences may be open to the public and adoptive parents should encourage teachers to attend. The adults can also promote the formation of an adopted child support group, similar to the group for children of divorced parents. If a curriculum review committee exists, adoptive parents should volunteer to be on it. This is one way to ensure that positive messages regarding adopting are incorporated into the curriculum.
Upon request, the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse will distribute information regarding adopting to schools. Adoptive parents should obtain additional relevant information from national organizations like the National Adoption Center, the North American Council on Adoptable Children, and Adoptive Families of America. By educating school faculty and staff regarding adopting, adoptive parents make the school years easier for their children.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Dealing With Social Worker Issues
The social worker is one of the many people foster parents interact with on a frequent basis. This person is expected to be cooperative, a good listener, respectful, and sympathetic to the needs of the child and foster parents. Most social workers are hard-working, dedicated, and concerned about the children within the foster care system. Unfortunately, many agencies are severely understaffed and ongoing fostering cases often do not receive the nurturing they require.
Social workers operate within tight deadlines and are constantly dealing with crises, leading to high levels of stress. Child Protective Services investigations and removing children from risk take precedence over ongoing foster cases. They may not seem pleasant or willing to please, but most are also not mean or bad people. They are forced to deal with a bad situation and make the best of it.
There are several things that foster parents can do to improve the situation. Many of these techniques focus on the foster parents and the family, which might seem to be a roundabout solution. Joining and participating in a foster parent association offers strength in numbers. The group can influence legislation, the local social work office, and to increase community support.
Volunteering to assist the social work agency with recruiting of new homes, training, and envelope stuffing may help improve the system within the local community. Foster parents can brainstorm other ways to assist each other and the agency. By undertaking initiatives to establish a helpful environment, the situation may improve.
Helping legislators, the media, and social workers to understand what a great role foster parents occupy goes a long way. Staying positive ensures that these relationships do not erode over the long-term. Being a foster parent is an important job that many people do not think about so they must be continuously reminded of it.
Social workers operate within tight deadlines and are constantly dealing with crises, leading to high levels of stress. Child Protective Services investigations and removing children from risk take precedence over ongoing foster cases. They may not seem pleasant or willing to please, but most are also not mean or bad people. They are forced to deal with a bad situation and make the best of it.
There are several things that foster parents can do to improve the situation. Many of these techniques focus on the foster parents and the family, which might seem to be a roundabout solution. Joining and participating in a foster parent association offers strength in numbers. The group can influence legislation, the local social work office, and to increase community support.
Volunteering to assist the social work agency with recruiting of new homes, training, and envelope stuffing may help improve the system within the local community. Foster parents can brainstorm other ways to assist each other and the agency. By undertaking initiatives to establish a helpful environment, the situation may improve.
Helping legislators, the media, and social workers to understand what a great role foster parents occupy goes a long way. Staying positive ensures that these relationships do not erode over the long-term. Being a foster parent is an important job that many people do not think about so they must be continuously reminded of it.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Helping Foster Teens Solve Problems And Make Decisions
Foster and biological parents face many of the same challenges with childrearing. They want their children to develop into happy, responsible, and independent adults. Solving problems and making decisions is essential to childhood learning and growth. Even if the foster care placement is short, adults make a big impact by teaching a child decision-making skills.
As they grow into teenagers, children begin make more decisions that directly affect them. They learn and develop as much, if not more so, from their mistakes as their successes. Foster parents do a disservice to teenage foster children when they make most decisions for the youths. Children must be prepared to fully assume a decision-making role as adults.
By teaching children how to work through each step involved in the decision-making process and allowing them to make decisions, foster parents help children learn valuable skills. The adults can also model appropriate behaviors and bring this to the attention of the child, opening up communication that can otherwise become restricted during teenage years.
Making decisions begins with identifying and defining the issue or problem and listing all possible alternatives or options. Brainstorming with teens allows them to develop a list of ideas without judgment. At the evaluation stage, teens consider the positive and negative aspects of each option, with adults taking a back seat in the process. Careful evaluation should make one option rise to the top.
Once the best option is selected, the teen should create a relevant plan and implement it. It is common to assume that this is the last step. A thorough evaluation of the problem and the solution is also necessary because it is valuable for learning. By identifying what led to the problem and how it was solved, teens can prevent a similar issue from occurring in the future.
As they grow into teenagers, children begin make more decisions that directly affect them. They learn and develop as much, if not more so, from their mistakes as their successes. Foster parents do a disservice to teenage foster children when they make most decisions for the youths. Children must be prepared to fully assume a decision-making role as adults.
By teaching children how to work through each step involved in the decision-making process and allowing them to make decisions, foster parents help children learn valuable skills. The adults can also model appropriate behaviors and bring this to the attention of the child, opening up communication that can otherwise become restricted during teenage years.
Making decisions begins with identifying and defining the issue or problem and listing all possible alternatives or options. Brainstorming with teens allows them to develop a list of ideas without judgment. At the evaluation stage, teens consider the positive and negative aspects of each option, with adults taking a back seat in the process. Careful evaluation should make one option rise to the top.
Once the best option is selected, the teen should create a relevant plan and implement it. It is common to assume that this is the last step. A thorough evaluation of the problem and the solution is also necessary because it is valuable for learning. By identifying what led to the problem and how it was solved, teens can prevent a similar issue from occurring in the future.
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