The first way to adopt a child through the Department of Human Services (hereinafter DHS) is to foster children. Click HERE to find out how to become a foster parent. The good side of this is that you do not have to pay to become a foster parent, in fact, you are paid to foster children in the State of Oklahoma. In addition, the children will have their own health insurance, DHS will pay for daycare if it is needed, and you will receive a monthly stipend. The downside to this, you have DHS in your home, you are restricted in your parenting methods (such as discipline) and you MUST take a training course, which is about seven weeks. But again, I must point out....it is biblical, and it is FREE. In addition, if the child placed in your home becomes eligible for adoption, the legal services finalizing the adoption are paid for by OKDHS. Therefore, this is really the only FREE method of adoption in Oklahoma.
The second way is to apply to adopt a "waiting child". These children are typically older children, mixed races, sibling groups or special needs. But wonderful, beautiful, loving little creations that need a home and a forever family. Click HERE on how to adopt through DHS. The only expense to the family is the medical exam that each family member must have prior to finalization. Click HERE to see some of the precious children right here in Oklahoma, waiting on a family.
So that is lesson number one on adoption options....please ask questions and check back for updates and answers to those questions.
***It was brought to my attention that you may have to pay for a physical which costs approximately $50. You will incur this cost!
9 comments:
Great post! I just wanted to point out there is a whole other downside of this methos if intention is to adopt from the fostercare system. It is biblical and the only way to get through this process with DHS is through faith in a heavenly father, but be prepared for your emotions to go on a rollercoaster. Be prepared, if you can even can to love,bond,nuture and completly fall in love with a child only for that child to be pulled from your home and put back into a not so ideal home to be raised in situations that are only left to the imagination. I thank God for our blesssing through foster and now forever ours but there were many days and even months that I cried myself to sleep thinking that we were going to loose him, I would do it again though because he is such a blessing!
I would also like to add that foster parents must pay for the medical exam, also...just an FYI...
Thank you! You remembered my request. We had our last foster training session tonight and I was heartbroken. There was a panel of three teenagers that were never adopted and were about to age out of the foster care system. I am so sad to think about where these 3 boys will be in 5 years....10 years...and so on. With nobody to share their hopes, dreams and accomplishments with. Adoption through foster care is such a needed ministry (and yes, with many potential heartbreaks along the way).
What a great idea for a post! Thanks for educating us more about adoption.
It is helpful to know that you can use the support of foster care agencies like circle of care to foster/adopt through DHS. These agencies vary a lot in quality, but the good ones provide a lot of extra support, respite and handholding that you don't get if you foster/adopt directly through DHS without their help. Do your homework though, b/c they vary so much in terms of quality. 8I've heard nothing but awesome things about Circle of Care.
We are starting the adoption process through OK DHS and I just wanted to add that you don't HAVE to be a foster parent to adopt through OK DHS....you can simply adopt, however your chances of getting a placement go down because foster parents get the first option to adopt if the child becomes available, but it is possible and does happen. We are not doing fosteer to adopt because I don't feel like I could give up a precious child! I know though that God has our child waiting for us and we just have to trust and be patient! Thanks for this wonderful resource! God Bless!
My husband is in the military, we are Oklahoma residents but we live outside Oklahoma (in the US). I did not know if we could Foster a child through DHS or not. Do you know what the rulings are on that? Do we have to go through the state we currently reside in (which changes almost yearly) or is it even possible to go through DHS.
Great blog! There is also another route to go. Next week we will have a teenage boy placed with us through DHS. We went through foster parent training with Sunbeam Family Services (in Oklahoma City) who works as a contract liason with DHS. They are very friendly and are much quicker to work with than DHS.
We specified that we wanted an older child to adopt. We have 4 bio-children: 3 grown children and one teenager in our home. We know how to raise kids and we know the challenges that come in the teenage years and feel equipped to handle them.
We began this process only 2 months ago and it went very quick. Sunbeam Family Services works directly with many teenagers in foster care and many of these kids have given up hope that they will ever be permanently adopted.
Ultimately the placement is up to DHS to approve, but they rely on the recommendation of Sunbeam Family Services who basically work as a "matchmaker" to fit the child to the family. Their goal is to find a good fit and to help these older children get out of the system and into permanent placement.
Just my two cents. We can't wait to begin this new journey!
We are finishing our adoption classes in the next two weeks as well and we begin our home study on Thursday. The 27 hours of training for Foster, Kinship, and Adoption are the worst 27 hours of an emotional roller coaster that I have ever had. The videos and the stories break your heart. During the week it takes Philippians Chapter 4 to help me keep positive thoughts in my head. At times I just want to cry because someone has hurt my children and I can't do anything about it yet. I just don't even know who they are going to be but it breaks my heart that I haven't been able to protect "my" children.
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