Once a child enters the foster care system, the biological parents have no say over where or who the child is to stay with. A child who is put into the foster care system is placed in state custody but can stay with relatives, in a licensed foster home, or in a residential facility. Like many foster care cases, the adoption process comes with out-of-pocket expenses for the adoptive parents. If a child is in foster care for 15 out of 22 months, in most instances, a petition to terminate parental rights will be filed. Still, in the first 15 months, states are required to work in order to reunite the child or children with their parents. If within the first 15 months, parents are not able to reunite with their child, biologicalparental rights are terminated by a court. and foster care are options for keiki to go home to loving families. What is foster care, and what is adoption? There are many differences between the two. Adoption is the act of legally obtaining a child and raising the child as your own. It is a permanent transition and process. At times, the biological parents are able to choose the prospective family of their child when the mother is still pregnant. On the other hand, foster care is intended to be a temporary separation between a child and his or her guardian. Parents can work to reunite themselves with their child or children. This ruling of foster care is put in place by the state. With an average age of infant to age 21, it is a system built to ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of the child. 126 HAWAII PARENT March/April 2024 More than 100,000 children across the U.S. are waiting to be adopted. “Foster care is intended to be a temporary separation between a child and his or her guardian.”
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