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Have you ever considered adopting a child from foster care? Check out our interview with Erica Jourdan, the Founder of Adoption Options Consulting, where she provides support to families looking to adopt older children from foster care. She is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate (LCSWA) at Flourish Counseling and Wellness. And Angelica Jones, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and the Intensive Service Foster Care Recruiter and Trainer at Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services in Los Angeles. She is a current foster parent and has experience working with prospective and adoptive parents in the foster care program.

In this episode, we cover:

• What are the different ways to adopt from foster care? (adopting children whose parental rights have already been terminated or adopting a child who you have been fostering when their parental rights are terminated)
• What types of kids are available for adoption from foster care? Age, gender, race, sibling group?
• Is adopting a very young child or baby from foster care possible?
• What are the special needs that these children might have? Trauma, prenatal exposure, ADHD, etc.
• Can you adopt a child from foster care across state lines?
• What should prospective parents think about when considering different ages of children to adopt?
• What should prospective parents think about when considering a sibling group for adoption?
• How to find children currently available for adoption?  AdoptUSKids, State Heart Galleries, Wendy’s Wonderful Kids
• What are the basic differences between adopting and fostering in foster care?
• Who can adopt from foster care?
  • Can singles men and women adopt from foster care?
  • Can LGBTQ+ parents adopt?
  • What are the education requirements? Do you have to have graduated from high school, or college?
  • Can you adopt if you have a criminal background?
  • Do you have to own your own home?
  • Do you have to make a certain amount of money in order to adopt from foster care?
• How much does it cost to adopt from foster care?
• Is an adoption subsidy usually available?
• Medicaid is usually available.
• What happens if you think the child might have problems in the future due to things, such as prenatal exposure, but is not currently showing any issues due to age? (if you have questions, contact Families Rising (Formerly known as NACAC, North American Council on. Adoptable Children))
• How does the Adoption Tax Credit apply to adoptions from foster care?
• What is the process for someone wanting to adopt from foster care?
• Home study requirements?
• How much education or training is required?
• Do you have to use the state agency or can you use a private agency? What is the dif

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Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.

Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

• Weekly podcasts
• Weekly articles/blog posts
• Resource pages on all aspects of family building