Today’s guest blogger is Shannon Abbott.
In the article Adopting Through Foster Care: A Less Expensive Alternative by Susan Johnston the author seeks to promote adoption through foster care by shedding light on information that may not be known about this option.
Many potential adoptive parents are aware of the great potential cost that comes with international or private domestic adoptions. A large number of these families are not aware, however, that adoption through foster care can an option that is more financially feasible.
The costs of adoption through foster care is mostly bared by the state or county systems when a child is adopted through foster care. There are still some costs to the family such as the home study fee but Johnston explains this can be refunded to families through tax credits or employer benefits.
While adoption through foster care is potentially a better financial decision compared to international or private domestic adoption, there are also draw backs to this type of adoption over international or private domestic adoption. One of those drawbacks is that if a family wants to adopt a younger child this may not be possible as the median age of kids in foster care is 8.5 years. Another drawback is this type of adoption can be risky to families as they may provide foster care for children who end up returning to their biological families instead of being adopted.
One of the biggest strengths of this article is that it provides information that has been shown to not be well known. Another strength of this article is it strives to be balanced. The article does not present only the financial positive of this type of adoption but it also presents some of the drawbacks to this type.
While this article has some great strengths, there are also limitations to this article and myths that are propagated by this article. The biggest myth propagated by this article is that adoption is nothing but easy and happy for children. The tone the article takes when talking about children is that foster care and adoption process does not take a toll on them. The article states “fostering is high risk for the family but low risk for the child”. At the most surface level adoption through foster care is risky for the child because the family can decide not to pursue adoption. On a deeper level and more concerning thing about this statement is it negates that the child has already experienced trauma and separation to get to the point of needing to be adopted. While adoption can be a great thing for these children it is not without risk and not taking that into consideration is a disservice to the child as well as prospective adoptive families.
Although this article has some limitations, overall it presents a much needed lesson that adoption through foster care is beneficial to both the adoptive family and the child who is adopted.
Article Citation:
Johnston, S. (2015, February 24). Adopting through foster care: A less expensive alternative.US New & World Report. Retrieved March 1, 2015, from http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2015/02/24/adopting-through-foster-care-a-less-expensive-alternative