Some agencies use the term “legal risk placement” while others do not. Some people state it is a made up term. I do hear this term used a lot with agencies, caseworkers, foster parents and child welfare.

A "legal risk placement" goal is usually adoption but there is a “risk” that the child will be returned to the biological parents. In cases where this is not the first time the child has come into care, in prior placement(s) the child was reunited with biological parents. After returning to foster care again it may be decided to look for a foster to adopt placement with the plan being adoption. Children that are more apt be to labeled a “legal risk placement” are... more

Foster parents that have been parenting the foster children while they have be in care in most cases will get the first option to adopt the children. In a lot of cases, the foster parents do not necessarily start fostering a child thinking that they will adopt, but as time goes on the child becomes a part of their family.

In foster care, some children just capture your heart from the beginning and we have to wait to see how things play out with the biological parents. When young foster children are placed into a foster family in most cases people get attached pretty quickly.

When we started our "foster to adopt" journey we were looking for school age children to adopt but... more

I am always being asked why more foster parents do not want to care for infants or young toddlers. There is not an easy answer to this question. There are a number of reasons why a foster family may not take babies.

A number of babies in foster care are drug babies. Drug babies need more care and attention than other babies. You will have a number of sleepless nights while rocking a continuously crying baby. You may be faced with a baby that becomes stiff when you are holding her or has major muscle tremors both due to drugs. Fostering drug babies can be a major family commitment. We received a newborn infant... more

An agency is trying to lure foster parents to stay at home to care for babies that are in foster care in Palm Beach County. They are increasing the pay for infants to $27 per baby per day. The shelters in the local area are full with many little ones. 452 of these children that are living in shelters are 2 years old and younger.

Most families, even foster families, need a two parent income to make ends meet. Fostering younger children means the cost of daycare and just the bigger expense of younger children makes it harder to place these little ones. The private... more