Transitioning Foster Children to Adoptive Children

In every State there are children with special needs waiting in foster care for adoptive families. The most recent data estimate that 126,000 children are available to be adopted from foster care. In the past, the costs of care and services were major obstacles to parents who would otherwise adopt and love these children, and most were not placed for adoption. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 provided the first Federal subsidies to encourage the adoption of children from the nation's foster care system. These subsidies, known as adoption assistance, serve to minimize the financial obstacles to adoption. In addition, other types of assistance often are available to help with medical care or other services. Adoption assistance serves to remove barriers and contribute to an increase in adoption of children with special needs. This factsheet discusses this assistance by reviewing: Federal Title IV-E adoption assistance, State adoption assistance, and how to arrange adoption assistance.

Summarizes how foster/adoptive parents can help their child make the emotional adjustment to being an adopted child. Children and youth may not clearly comprehend the difference between being a foster child versus being an adopted child in the same family. This factsheet provides suggestions for talking with children about the changes from foster care to adoption, helping them understand their own histories and losses, helping them cope with trauma and transfer attachments, and useful resources.