Benefits of Adopting / Fostering / Respite

(quoted from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_fospar.php)

Adoption by the foster family has the potential to benefit not only the child being adopted, but also the foster family and the child welfare agency. There are a number of reasons that a child's foster parents may be the best adoptive parents for that child:

• Foster parents have a greater knowledge of a child's experiences prior to placement and know what behaviors to expect from the child. If they have sufficient background information about what happened to a child before this placement, some knowledge of how children generally respond to such experiences, and extensive information about this child's specific behavior patterns, the foster family is better able to understand and respond to the child's needs in a positive and appropriate way (Meezan & Shireman, 1985a, 1985b).
• Foster parents usually have fewer fantasies and fears about the child's birth family, because they often have met and know them as real people with real problems.
• Foster parents have a better understanding of their role and relationship with the agency—and perhaps a relationship with their worker (if the same worker stays throughout the duration of the child's placement).

Benefits for the Child

The biggest benefit of foster parent adoption for a child is the fact that the child does not have to move to a new family. Even very young infants may grieve the loss of the familiar sights, sounds, smells, and touch of a family when they must move. Staying in the same placement means the child will not leave familiar people and things, such as:

• Familiar foster parents and family
• School, classroom, classmates, and teachers
• Pets
• Friends
• Sports teams and other extracurricular activities
• Bedroom, house, or apartment

Since the foster family may have met or cared for a child during the child's visits with the birth family, the foster family is better able to help the child remember important people from the past and maintain important connections.

Benefits for Others

Foster parent adoption also benefits the birth parents in many cases by allowing them to know who is permanently caring for their children. For foster parents, receiving the agency's approval to adopt affirms the family's love and commitment to the child. Agencies benefit from this practice as it enables them to move children into permanency more quickly (since finalization of adoption requires that a child be in a placement at least 6 months, and this requirement has already been fulfilled in foster parent adoptions) (Rycus & Hughes, 1998; Fein, Maluccio, & Kluger, 1990).