Apparently we are adopting like crazy

[workswithseed 2,101]

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2019/12/04/texas-children-foster-care-adoptions/?fbclid=IwAR2RGCKW70_5QdEAATTEHpnNHZ6HNvRnQxGcl95jy-KwbAb1wH2I6Ekg3tE

improvements demonstrated by DFPS are the result of the passion and commitment by DFPS staff.”

 

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More than 20,000 children left Texas foster care, including more than 6,000 who were adopted, Fiscal Year 2019 data shows.

More than half of the adoptions – 3,095 – were by relatives, also a new record for CPS, according to a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services news release Wednesday.

The number of children leaving foster care outnumbered the number entering care by more than 1,700 children, a trend the state hopes will continue.

“This is certainly great news, and affirmation that our year-round adoption efforts are paying off,” said Kristene Blackstone, CPS Associate Commissioner. “And in many cases we are reunifying these children with their families.”

While the number of children entering the state’s care has dropped in recent years, to 18,615 in FY 2019, the number of adoptions has steadily increased, up by 25% in the last decade.

 

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As National Adoption Month wrapped up Thanksgiving weekend, more than 400 children and youth in Texas found permanent homes during Texas’ busiest month for adoptions.

But as Commissioner Blackstone said, the need for permanent homes is year-round, and with Christmas only a few weeks away she hopes more foster children will benefit from the season’s good will.

“November is our busiest adoption month, by far, but there is nothing more joyful than an adoption at Christmastime,” she said.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by workswithseed

[DoobieWah 1,435]

We're a good people.

(Texans)

[TwiceHorn 31,450]

That's a good thing and good news.  However, this is potentially troubling:

Quote

More than half of the adoptions – 3,095 – were by relatives

I really hope DPFS isn't pushing kids back into bad homes just to achieve a metric.  I'd like to think there are safeguards against this, but  . . . .

[gsoda3 3,254]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

That's a good thing and good news.  However, this is potentially troubling:

I really hope DPFS isn't pushing kids back into bad homes just to achieve a metric.  I'd like to think there are safeguards against this, but  . . . .

as i understand it, they do this because having kids in familiar surroundings (with family or family friends) is believed to be better for the kids (as long as they're not in harm's way obviously).  i don't think they're just pushing kids back to their original situations to meet a goal.

[TwiceHorn 31,450]

1 minute ago, gsoda3 said:

as i understand it, they do this because having kids in familiar surroundings (with family or family friends) is believed to be better for the kids (as long as they're not in harm's way obviously).  i don't think they're just pushing kids back to their original situations to meet a goal.

I know.  It can be benign.  

[workswithseed 2,101]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

I know.  It can be benign.  

I was wondering that too. Hopefully all these children will have happy families to go to.

 

[hornian 5,212]

There is a policy preference to place a child with a family member (non offending family member obviously). There’s a lot of reasons for this, but the main ones are that family placements usually are more stable, kids usually have bette outcomes, and often times family members don’t require adoption subsidies (on going monthly stipends) from the state. 

[Rougarou 594]

I’ve got a friend trying to adopt. Allegedly, Americans are adopting white, healthy babies as soon as they are listed and there is a very big backlog and long waitlist. For children with disabilities or developmental (or mental/personality) disorders it sounds like there is a shorter and easier path (read: they aren’t being adopted as often, obviously, and I’m sure it’s very hard to do so, so I’m not judging). Just to adopt a “normal healthy” baby/infant/toddler is such a long waitlist (and it’s not guaranteed) that he’s looking at adopting internationally which it sounds like a lot of people do.

Long story short; Americans are adopting like crazy!

[TKthunder2 4,988]

It’s nice to know that there are so many people out there doing good to offset my own selfish life choices.

[PRONG HORN 3,141]

One way to slow down the growing idiocracy is to raise their children for them.  

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

On 12/7/2019 at 3:54 PM, Rougarou said:

I’ve got a friend trying to adopt. Allegedly, Americans are adopting white, healthy babies as soon as they are listed and there is a very big backlog and long waitlist. For children with disabilities or developmental (or mental/personality) disorders it sounds like there is a shorter and easier path (read: they aren’t being adopted as often, obviously, and I’m sure it’s very hard to do so, so I’m not judging). Just to adopt a “normal healthy” baby/infant/toddler is such a long waitlist (and it’s not guaranteed) that he’s looking at adopting internationally which it sounds like a lot of people do.

Long story short; Americans are adopting like crazy!

This is true. There is actually a long line of parents waiting for healthy babies of any race.  International adoption is much more difficult now as well which makes the American waitlists even longer.  A lot of the countries with a lot of adoptions in the past (India, China, Korea, Russia), severely restrict international adoption now. That decision is only beneficial to the kids in the case of Korea and possibly China. Russia's move is simply political, and India still has a low internal adoption rate and kids raised in orphanages are still stigmatized so they have limited options when they become adults. 

Also, the foster system has very few infants or toddlers in it.  Finding homes for infants has never really been a problem.  That this news is coming from the foster system makes it even happier because these are typically the kids that fall through the cracks. 

Edited December 9, 2019 by FondrenRoad

[Rougarou 594]

8 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

This is true. There is actually a long line of parents waiting for healthy babies of any race.  International adoption is much more difficult now as well which makes the American waitlists even longer.  A lot of the countries with a lot of adoptions in the past (India, China, Korea, Russia), severely restrict international adoption now. That decision is only beneficial to the kids in the case of Korea and possibly China. Russia's move is simply political, and India still has a low internal adoption rate and kids raised in orphanages are still stigmatized so they have limited options when they become adults. 

Also, the foster system has very few infants or toddlers in it.  Finding homes for infants has never really been a problem.  That this news is coming from the foster system makes it even happier because these are typically the kids that fall through the cracks. 

He, and the people he’s met in the journey of International adoption and agencies, are increasingly looking at South America I guess for all the reasons you’ve stated and I originally assumed it was going to be a poor nation Asian baby like Angalina Jolie used to do. He’s getting a baby from Colombia I believe.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,510]

You have to think that a good economy and low unemployment helps people with the decision to adopt.

[BabaYaga 15,290]

55 minutes ago, FondrenRoad said:

International adoption is much more difficult now as well which makes the American waitlists even longer.  A lot of the countries with a lot of adoptions in the past (India, China, Korea, Russia), severely restrict international adoption now.

Guy I worked with adopted two beautiful little girls from Russia many years back.  All in, he said they spent about $70K.  They'd get a call on a Monday that they needed to be in Moscow on Friday, etc.  Tickets.  Hush money.  All of it.  They'd get instructions on how to wear a money belt once in country.  The bills had to be "new".  Crisp.  Clean.  He remembers how strict they were about that part.  They'd book tickets, then bring in $5-7K in cash, etc.  Many times over.  All worked out.  Girls are awesome and doing great.  

They'd been trying to have kids for 5+ years prior.  After the girls came home....mom got pregnant three times.  Guess she loosened up.  Fun times....

[DallasHorn26 586]

This is awesome to see. I am an adoptive parent as well in my case it was a relative placement from CPS. It started as foster care then became a permanent gig. I also worked at a children's group home with my ex as a houseparent. This facility at multiple homes on a 40+ acre campus that had several amenities for the kids. They mainly took in larger sibling groups of kids that were 4+ in age from CPS to keep them all together. Those are the hardest cases to keep together and adopt out. In some cases, the kids went back home to the parents, and in others they grew up there. I saw a couple of kids that lived there for 10+ years until the aged out. The campus also had a set of apartments for the kids that aged out and helped them get started with college or their careers so they just weren't dumped on the street. 

It saddens me to see the number of good people that I've known over the years that couldn't have kids, while you see people drag kids through shitty situations and still keep having more. 

 

[DallasHorn26 586]

7 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Guy I worked with adopted two beautiful little girls from Russia many years back.  All in, he said they spent about $70K.  They'd get a call on a Monday that they needed to be in Moscow on Friday, etc.  Tickets.  Hush money.  All of it.  They'd get instructions on how to wear a money belt once in country.  The bills had to be "new".  Crisp.  Clean.  He remembers how strict they were about that part.  They'd book tickets, then bring in $5-7K in cash, etc.  Many times over.  All worked out.  Girls are awesome and doing great.  

They'd been trying to have kids for 5+ years prior.  After the girls came home....mom got pregnant three times.  Guess she loosened up.  Fun times....

I've known several couples that got pregnant after adopting, crazy how that happens. 

[BabaYaga 15,290]

My brother is adopted.  Mom working at Seton at the time as a nurse.  Word came in that a women just delivered and didn't want to keep the child.  So she got a call from a friend who knew she was looking to adopt, and the rest is history.  Things do happen for a reason.  

[bluto 4,916]

My wife and I went in to adopt on account a' somethin' went wrong with my semen, and they said we had to wait five years for a healthy white baby. I said, "Healthy white baby? Five years? What else you got?" Said they got two Koreans and a negra born with his heart on the outside. It's a crazy world.

[BabaYaga 15,290]

[blacklab 11,926]

Friend of my uncle adopted 2 little girls from Russia. They spent the first 3-4 years of their life in an orphanage and had very little affection. Due to this they were conditioned that crying didn't get you any attention, so when they would do things like fall down a couple of steps and be bleeding from their head they would just get up and walk around like nothing happened where a normal 4 year old would be screaming and crying for an hour if something like that happened. 

When he told me about them it kinda reminded me of the story from Highlander about the russians (cossacks? whatever the fuck the bad guy was) would throw their kids into the pit with the bears to see who was the toughest.

[BearSchlong 8,084]

My wife (2nd) can't have kids, but she loves my children like her own and is an awesome stepmom. She also works for CPS as a caseworker, and has for 11 gut wrenching years.  I couldn't do her job.  They are prohibited (by law perhaps, but by policy definitely) from discussing birth control or family planning with their clients, even though having 5 kids with 6 daddys is the whole reason for CPS involvement.

There are so many grandparents and aunts/uncles that are raising their grandkids/neices/nephews. . .

Edited December 9, 2019 by BearSchlong

[High Plains Drifter 11,035]

Friends of mine were turned down for adoption, after they found out they were infertile, because they were "too old". He was early fifties, she was early forties. They are good people, who would make great parents.

[CooterBrown 18,006]

Friends of mine were turned down for adoption, after they found out they were infertile, because they were "too old". He was early fifties, she was early forties. They are good people, who would make great parents.

Some neighbors were turned down multiple times because they are atheists. They’re an electrical engineer and aviation industrial designer respectively. Every adoption agency they went to was church based and refused them service. Luckily they got pregnant after a few years of trying.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,898]

I know for a fact that being an ex stripper doesn't disqualify you from adoption through CPS

[Iceman 2,699]

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

 

Some neighbors were turned down multiple times because they are atheists. They’re an electrical engineer and aviation industrial designer respectively. Every adoption agency they went to was church based and refused them service. Luckily they got pregnant after a few years of trying.

 

Praise the Lord!

[Iceman 2,699]

1 hour ago, High Plains Drifter said:

Friends of mine were turned down for adoption, after they found out they were infertile, because they were "too old". He was early fifties, she was early forties. They are good people, who would make great parents.

Talk about focusing on the wrong things... the ONLY drawback I could see in that, especially if the child has had a particularly tough experience in childhood; is the concern of traumatizing them again with the( higher possibility of) death of a parent. I'd wager the love and care the child would experience in being adopted would more than cover the craptasticity of lingering in fostercare/ ward of the state.

[Parliament 14,255]

My wife and I went in to adopt on account a' somethin' went wrong with my semen, and they said we had to wait five years for a healthy white baby. I said, "Healthy white baby? Five years? What else you got?" Said they got two Koreans and a negra born with his heart on the outside. It's a crazy world.

What are the rules here? Are we allowed to laugh at this?

[Stormandy 2]

My wife and I worked with several agencies for years trying to adopt. We finally decided that it just wasn't going to happen. Then one day we were contacted by someone knowing of a perspective mother that due in less than a month that wanted to give up her baby. I contacted my lawyer and he arrange a quick private adoption. I can't believe that was 21 years ago. 

[FondrenRoad 4,378]

3 minutes ago, Stormandy said:

My wife and I worked with several agencies for years trying to adopt. We finally decided that it just wasn't going to happen. Then one day we were contacted by someone knowing of a perspective mother that due in less than a month that wanted to give up her baby. I contacted my lawyer and he arrange a quick private adoption. I can't believe that was 21 years ago. 

Dad?