How to Adopt From Foster Care in Alabama

Domestic adoption in Alabama is a wonderful way to start your family, but it's not the only way. Currently, approximately 6,000 children are in foster care in Alabama, yet there aren’t enough families that are licensed foster families and able to accept children. These children in Alabama’s foster care are from all ethnic and economic backgrounds, teens with various mental, physical and emotional problems and sibling groups that need to stay together.

While American Adoptions doesn't facilitate foster care adoptions, we can help get you the information you need. Call 1-800-ADOPTION or fill out a contact form today.

The goal of foster care in Alabama is almost always to reunite children with their biological families. Children may need a foster family for a few days or a few months. For about 51 percent of foster care children, this goal of being reunited is achieved. When there are no other biological family members to adopt the child, and reunification is not a possibility, the child becomes eligible for foster care adoption in Alabama. About 22 percent of children in foster care are adopted.

Alabama foster care and adoption are wonderful methods for building a family. At American Adoptions, we specialize in the adoption of newborns and do not provide foster-to-adopt services. However, we have provided more information on foster care adoption in Alabama below. Read more to decide if foster child adoption makes sense for your family.

Types of Foster Parenting

There are three different ways that potential parents can become involved in the foster care system in Alabama.

1. Foster Parenting

The foster care system of Alabama takes care of children who cannot live safely with their biological parents. They are placed with foster parents, who provide a temporary and loving home for children in the Alabama foster care system. Foster parents ensure that the child’s daily physical and emotional needs are being met while they are waiting to be reunited with their family or adopted.

2. Foster to Adopt

When you become a licensed foster parent in Alabama, you have the potential to adopt a child who is in your temporary care, should they become eligible for adoption. Most children in the Alabama foster care system do not become eligible for adoption because they are reunited with their biological family. If a child does become eligible for adoption, priority for considering adoptive parents first goes to biological family members who might be able to care for them, then to the foster parents who’ve been taking care of the child.

3. Adopting through Foster Care in Alabama

In Alabama, you don’t need to be a foster parent to adopt from the Alabama foster care system. Instead, you can apply to adopt and complete the necessary classes and home studies, showing you are acceptable to adopt a child who is currently available and waiting to be adopted.

Alabama Foster Care Adoption Subsidies

Foster parents in Alabama can be reimbursed monthly for room and board. The family will incur the costs of medical exams. At the beginning of the foster process in AL, families may spend their own money to meet the needs of the child.

Who Can Foster to Adopt in Alabama or Adopt through Foster Care?

Before you can become a foster parent in Alabama, you are subject to an approval process. You must be at least 19 years old, in good enough health to take care of a foster child, and your home must meet the Alabama Minimum Standards for Foster Family Homes. You will also be required to complete a 30-hour training course.

A worker from the Alabama Department of Human Resources will conduct the foster care adoption home study. This generally includes:

reviews of your physical and mental health
social history and references
investigation into any court action regarding child abuse
financial background assessment
criminal background check for yourself and any adult member of your household

Who Can be Adopted Through Foster Care in Alabama?

Before a child can become eligible for foster care adoption in Alabama, parental rights must be terminated. A parent may voluntarily terminate their rights, or the court may involuntarily terminate them if the parent cannot complete the mandated requirements to be reunited with their child.

A child is not eligible for foster care adoption in Alabama until parental rights are terminated. After age 18, children “age out” of foster care. However, foster parents who have fostered a child in Alabama may choose to make the relationship permanent through adult adoption.

Alabama Foster Care Agencies and Resources

If you are interested in learning more about foster care and adoption in Alabama, visit the AL foster care adoption agencies and Alabama foster care adoption photo listing sites below:

After the child has been placed successfully in your home for three months, your Alabama foster care adoption will be finalized in your local Alabama County Probate Court.

Your Alabama foster care agency will be able to provide you with many resources you may need, including support groups, training classes, legal counsel and more. If you decide you would rather pursue private domestic infant adoption, you can always contact our agency at 1-800-ADOPTION for more information.

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