Families hoping to adopt through foster-adoption do well to prepare themselves mentally before taking the plunge. It’s very important to keep in mind that the primary goal of the foster care program is reunification with the birth family. While foster parents are busy doing their thing, there are parenting specialists, crisis workers, case managers, social workers, rehab specialists and the like, all working with the birthfamily with the goal of putting Humpty back together again. Ideally, this is how it should be. But foster parents should also be aware that they are often at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to weighing permanency placement options; social workers, the... more

The last option for LDS families we’ll discuss is adoption through a state foster-to-adopt program, which is administered by the state Department of Health and Human Services. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll use Utah’s guidelines as an example, but be aware that requirements vary a bit from state to state. If you’d like to learn more about your state’s specific requirements, you can do an Internet search for your state and “foster parent.”

In most cases, once you’ve expressed an interest in being a foster-adopt parent, you’ll fill out some preliminary screening paperwork and sometimes have an in-person interview with a representative of the foster care department. After this screening,... more