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To learn more about Foster-To-Adopt:
Attend a community recruitment event; call 419-213-3336 and/or fill out the”Request More Information” form below.
To learn more about becoming a foster parent:
Attend a community recruitment event;
call 419-213-3336
and/or fill out the”Request More Information” form below.
Visit our Facebook page.
Most children enter foster care with the goal of reunifying with their birth families. Unfortunately, for some families, the barriers are too great, and it falls to LCCS to find new, forever families for children.
Post Adoption Services
In addition to the many resources accessible to foster parents, there are pre-placement and post-placement adoption services that can help you prepare for your child and address any adjustment issues that arise after the child joins your family.
Post-Adoption
Adoptive families can face situations and difficulties in parenting that are very different from those experienced by “traditional” families. Post adoption services are available to all adoptive families, whether their adoption was public, private, kinship, or international. The Post adoption caseworker is trained to address the issues that arise as a family welcomes new members, and can help adoptive families work through them. Services provided by the post adoption caseworker include, but are not limited to:
- Case management
- Behavior management
- Crisis management
- Support through advocacy by attending school meetings, team meetings, etc.
- Referral to services
- Respite
- Subsidies/financial resources
- Training
- Books and videos
- Birth family issues/mediation
Post Adoptive Special Services Subsidy (PASSS)
For families who have adopted a child or children with special needs, Ohio offers the Post Adoptive Special Services Subsidy. It helps Ohio families meet the special needs of their adoptive children after finalization. Each child may be eligible for additional monetary support each year based on their therapeutic needs, regardless of whether they were identified before finalization or after the child was adopted. Support can include counseling, training, and support for the parents.
Adopt America — “OAKS”
Adopt America Network offers Ongoing Adoption and Kinship Support (OAKS). These services are specifically for post adoption and post legal custody families. Participating families need not have an open case to participate in the services.
Children in adoptive and post guardianship families often present challenging behaviors and struggles with attachment and bonding. Without services, these families become disheartened and discouraged. This new, family-based program will provide support services to these families from an agency not affiliated with Children Services.
Home Based Parent Education and Coaching
Adopt America Network provides parent education and coaching in the home, based on family needs. Our staff utilizes TBRI strategies in conjunction with the Exchange Parent Aide Model to best meet these needs for families. The focus is on attachment-based interventions to help families and children bond. Skill building interventions are also used to help parents learn new ways of parenting that meet the needs of the child.
Support Networks
Adopt America wants parents and children to feel supported. We offer support groups to both parents and children. The groups are held in the community. While parents meet in their group, the children have their own support group. AAN also offers parent and child mentors; we have a list of experienced adoptive/legal custody families in the community that are willing to be mentors to help families overcome challenges and bond together.
To learn more about foster care adoption:
Attend a recruitment event; call 419-213-3336
and/or fill out the “Foster-To-Adopt Inquiry Form” form below.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Homestudy Process
Foster-To-Adopt Inquiry Form
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The children awaiting adoption have been placed in LCCS’ permanent custody, meaning that the court has terminated the biological family’s parental rights, making the children available for adoption. Many of them are older, have special needs, or are part of a sibling group.
LCCS recruits adoptive parents from diverse backgrounds to meet the needs of the children awaiting new families. Adoptive parents can be married, single, or partnered; must have sufficient income to meet his/her/their own needs; must complete the pre-service training program; and must be approved through the home study process. All caretaking adults in the household must participate in the home study process.
If you are adopting a child with special needs through LCCS, most related costs (attorney, court, medical, and other fees) can be reimbursed to you through Non-Recurring Adoption Expenses. If you are adopting a child not characterized as having special needs, you will be responsible for these costs.
Once you are approved for adoption and a child has been placed into your home, the child must live with you for a minimum of six months before the adoption can be finalized.
Children being placed for adoption can be placed with prospective families that have an approved adoptive home study. Out of state applicants must comply with the rules of the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC).
Applicants with five or more children living in the home, including foster children, children in kinship care, or biological children; or if the prospective adoptive child will bring the number of children in the home to five, must have their adoption assessor complete the “JFS 1530 Multiple Children/Large Family Assessment” form.
Prospective families for the child are identified based on their ability to meet the child’s best interest and special needs on a lifelong basis.
Criteria for matching adoptive parents to available children include, but are not limited to:
- Length of time between placements
- Considerations of placing siblings together
- Preferences to placing with relatives or foster caregivers.
Adult relatives of the child who have expressed an interest are given priority consideration, provided the caregiver meets all child protection and home study standards. Foster parents are also given priority consideration when relatives are not available to meet the child’s best interests or special needs. The period of time that the child has spent in the foster home counts toward the time period that the child must live in the household prior to adoption finalization. Finally, children may also be matched with prospective families submitting approved home studies from Ohio or any other state.
If a waiting child is of Native American heritage, priority for adoptive placement is given to the child’s tribe or another Native American family. LCCS complies with all aspects of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) when making decisions or placing Native American children.
The Multi-ethnic Placement Act/Inter-Ethnic Placement Amendments (MEPA) of 1994 prohibits discrimination in placing children for adoption and from denying or delaying or otherwise discriminating in making placements on the basis of race, color, or national origin of a child or a prospective adoptive family, if the child placing agency receives federal funding. Similarly, federally funded agencies and sub-recipients may not deny or delay the opportunity for any person to become an adoptive or foster parent on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Failure to comply with MEPA can result in a loss of substantial federal funding for Ohio. To ensure statewide compliance with MEPA, adoption services staff work closely with Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ Office of Legal Services, Bureau of Civil Rights, and the federal Office for Civil Rights, in the development of policy, training and the provision of technical assistance to foster care and adoption agencies.
Homestudy Process
You’ve decided that you want to learn more about becoming a foster and/or adoptive parent. You may have come to that decision on your own, or after speaking with a member of our recruiting team.
Your first step is to register for, and complete, the state-mandated pre-service orientation training. This 36-hour program will familiarize you with the rules you must follow as a foster parent, the needs of the children entering care, and other relevant information.
Once you have completed the training, you will be asked to complete an application to foster and/or adopt, along with other documents that collect information about you and your family. This may include, but is not limited to: physical exams and medical statements; financial statements; employment verification; background checks, and a safety audit of your home. An instruction guide accompanies these materials.
Once you have submitted all of the required documentation, LCCS will assign a state certified adoption assessor to guide you through the actual home study process. The worker assesses your family’s readiness and appropriateness to care for children who have suffered maltreatment. It is not a single visit; rather, it is a series of activities that help you decide whether fostering and/or adopting is right for you. It will include information about the way family members in the home interact; historical information that may affect your ability to safely care for children placed in your home; information about any pets in the home; and the physical safety of the environment.
At that point, your home study worker will submit all of your documentation, and a conclusion is drawn as to whether your home study can be recommended to the State of Ohio for approval.
The home study process can take up to six months to complete, but many families complete the process more quickly.
Foster-To-Adopt Inquiry Form
To learn more about post-adoption services, please fill out the form below, call 419-213-3336 or email lucaskids-recruitment@jfs.ohio.gov and an LCCS staff member will be in contact with you. Thank you.
