Adoption 101
The following is general information about adopting and some of the processes and policies Family Builders has with parents. Educating yourself is one of the most important parts of this journey and the information below will help you get started. Give us a call and we will be more then happy to go over any of this information and answer any question you have.
To learn more about a topic click on the link below:
Adopting Foster Children
In California alone, there are nearly 80,000 children in the foster care system. The majority of these children will never return to their family of origin. They are waiting for the one thing they need the most: a permanent, loving family. Without this permanence, their future is grim. Children age out of the system at 18 years of age into a world for which few of us would be prepared at that age. Many will not complete high school. Most will be underemployed or will have difficulty keeping a job. Most alarming, over half will be homeless or incarcerated within two years. You can make a difference in a child’s life but providing a permanent family. We invite you to educate yourself on the adoption process and to use us to help you complete your family.
Who can adopt?
You don’t have to be a millionaire, own your house or even be married to adopt. At Family Builders we help all kinds of qualified and loving parents, from Gay and Lesbian folks to mono-lingual Spanish speakers to older families, our goal is to find the right match for each child. Most importantly, we are looking for people with big hearts and a love of children, whose employment, housing, relationships, and health are stable.
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The Family Builders’ Adoption Process (Step-By-Step)
Below you can find a step-by-step summary of what you can expect when you work with Family Builders:
- Make the Call
Call us at 510-272-0204 or click here to email us. We’ll talk to you a little bit, tell you about the children and our process, ask you a few questions, and tell you when our next orientation is.
- Come meet us
Come to an orientation after your conversation with a social worker. Orientations in English are held on the 1st Saturday of each month at 10:00 a.m., and in Spanish as requested. Feel free to bring a person to whom you will be looking for support during and after the process. You’ll learn more about what it is like to adopt a child who is waiting and who has special needs. One of our social workers will talk with you about the process, how long it takes, and what is required. Of course, there will be time for your questions as well.
- Intake Meeting
The intake meeting is held in your home with a Family Builders social worker. We will discuss the type of child for whom you would be the most appropriate match, and we will begin to get to know you. We will ask about who lives in your home, what you do for work and fun, how your extended family might feel about your decision to adopt, your beliefs about child rearing, and more.
- Training and Home study
After the intake interview, you will be contacted about paperwork and fingerprinting, and you will be invited to participate in our training program. While you are going through the training process, you will also be completing the required paperwork. Once you have turned in a majority of your paperwork you will meet with a social worker for home study interviews. The home study consists of a series of visits with you during which we ask you questions so we may make a thorough assessment of such issues as your:
- Marital and relationship history
- Living Environment
- Growing up History
- Mental Health
- Education and Work History
- References
- Why you want to adopt?
- Knowledge of child development
- Understanding of adoption issues
It’s important to be forthcoming and honest. The home study is our way of getting to know you even better so we may assess your unique strengths and areas where you may need help later on in the process. We use this information to match you with a child whose needs you can meet. This part of the process usually takes 4 to 6 months.
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- Finding the right Match
After your training is finished and your home study has been approved, it is time to begin the search for your child. This process can take some time, so please be patient! Family Builders’ staff will work with you very closely during your search for a child.
- Meet your child
Once you and your social worker agree that your family can meet the needs of the child you have identified, you will meet with the child’s social worker and be given as much information about the child as is available.
- Visitation Period
You will be given some time to think about what you have heard. If you decide to go ahead with the process, we will set up an initial meeting and a schedule for visitation with the child.
- Fostering Period
After the visitation period, the child will be placed in your home as a foster child, (this is why we call the process “fost-adopt”) and we will work with you to insure the best possible transition for your entire family.
- Final Adoption
After the child has been in your home for a minimum of six months, and when your social worker, the child’s county worker and you decide that you are ready to proceed, there is additional paperwork and legal proceedings. Once your adoption is final, you, as adoptive parents, are regarded and treated in all aspects as the legal parents of the child, with all the same rights and responsibilities of birth parents. For most families it takes about a year from placement until an adoption is finalized.
Our Training Program
Because a lot of the children served by Family Builders come from a variety of difficult backgrounds, we have created a training program to prepare parents to deal with the fost-adopt transition. The program goes over ways to help children with histories of prenatal drug exposure, trauma, neglect, and physical and sexual abuse. We do this with all parents in order to give them the insight and empowerment they need to work with their child and ensure a future where they can thrive.
Family Builders uses the Foster/Adopt P.R.I.D.E. Training Model. PRIDE stands for Parent’s Resource for Information, Development and Education. This curriculum was developed through a national collaborative effort. The training is 20 hours long and consists of three Saturdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and one evening 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The topics covered include:
- Understanding the PRIDE model, working as part of a team towards permanence, strengthening family relationships, keep family relationships, planning for change.
- Meeting children’s developmental needs in the areas of attachment and loss, understanding the importance of racial and cultural awareness in adoption. ·
- Meeting children’s developmental needs in the area of discipline, understanding mandated child abuse reporting requirements, reviewing Family Builders’ parent manual and regulatory compliance. Family Builders also provides the opportunity to meet with an experienced adoptive parent(s), and adult children who have left the foster care system, to hear about their experiences and perspectives, and to ask them your questions.
Our Confidentiality Policy
We want you to know that confidentiality is one of our highest priorities. We understand that during the home study process you will trust us with information that is sensitive and confidential, and we guard that information carefully. We will reveal nothing without your written permission. In addition to our respect for your confidences, Federal Law is very specific about confidentiality for both your family and the children with whom we work.
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