What does "financially stable" actually mean in the foster/adoption world?

HappyMomAnna

Every state and sometimes each county will have their own guidelines. Generally there is an orientation night interested people can attend where many of the "local" issues are discussed. Most of the time you will be able to leave this meeting knowing where you will need to work the hardest.

There is generally training coursed which are usually a series of evenings or long all day weekends. If you will be planning to adopt my advice is to take the highest level of training even if you intend to foster parent as well.

In many cases you will need to attend the training classes in order to be certified to turn in your Adoption or Foster Parent Application. These are different every where with some being very short providing just some basic information, with other's being very in-depth asking for detailed information.

When your training is complete, your application ready, you will be asked to provide 3-7 references. These people will be contacted and will be asked to complete a written document. In our state each person we listed was sent paperwork from DHS and our application waited until the correct number were returned.

While waiting for our references everyone living in the home over the age of 18 had to be finger printed and complete a criminal history and background check. We had to proving the addresses of Every Place we lived.

Once all of that came back to the DHS office we were assigned to a Social Worker who would be our "Boss and Partner" for the rest of the way. Our worker was responsible for writing our Home Study and would Represent us with DHS for the rest of the process.

During our work with him to create our home study the details were each addressed. Our Home, Financial, Medical and Mental Health. As these things were gone over the Social Worker would request more information if there was a reason to be concerned.

Financially, they want to know that you are able to support your household on your current income and will not be dependent on the foster parent income or adoption support in order to meet your basic financial obligations.

As with any other Financial Stability issue past credit may have a role if there is something major like a bankruptcy, foreclosure, or very negative credit history. You might be asked to show how things have changed. Generally, there needs to be one primary income earning parent in the household.

You will be asked to complete the basic spending and earning applications. This will ask you to report your monthly bills, mortgage/rent, utilities, phone, cable, credit cars, insurance. You will also be required to prove income by pay stub, tax records and bank account information.

Actual Income requirements would have to do with your cost of living and your personal finances. When everything is put together the important thing will be whether your complete record indicates that you can financially meet the needs of your own family and household and have a safe, secure home with room for another child.

It is a little bit long because when things are done right everyone is working to place children in the homes that best meet their needs. There are no-across the board rules for each state, county or family as the process is about putting the whole picture together so your family will have the best possibility of meeting the needs of children who will be placed.

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Randy B

It means you are able to meet your financial obligations and or handle the addition of another child to the family. How you prove or disprove it is up to your agency or department. With our last adoption they asked for a pay statement and how long I had been with my current empoyer. They also asked for a listing of our debts but nothing more was done and no additional checks were conducted. Some agencies and department do go through and do financial checks and credit checks however.

As to how much you need to make, there may be individual requirements with an agency but I've seen people who live in double wide trailers adopting because they have a suitable home, make enough money to support a child and qualify in other ways. I personally do quite well I think but I know of at least one family with a similar income to mine who were rejected because of their heavy debt and the strain the adoption may place on them. And these were adoptions through foster care.

Kazi

When adopting internationally, many of the sending countries have actual minimum income requirements. China for instance used to be $10,000 for every member of the family, but since May 2007 they have increased the income to $80,000.

Adopting or fostering from children's services requires people to be financially stable, which simply means that you can pay your bills and that adding a child to your family will not become a financial burden that you cannot handle.

Opedial

We had to provide our income and our list of debts/expenses. They wanted to see we had some money for emergencies, and that we had a decent debt ratio. It is about not living above your means too much. (although now with kids I sure do!)

In fostering, it is to make sure you are NOT reliant on the foster fees as "income". You have to be able to support yourself without the foster fees, which are usually minimal anyway.

yeahright

Our home study document was very thorough and by our state's requirements we had to provide documentation of our entire financial footprint including all debts, savings, both our main house and vacation home values, and overall income. We also had to provide w-2's going back several years and show current pay stubs and a provide access for a credit check.

Each state is different in their financial requirements as are each country that allows US citizens to adopt from their country.

mommaof42007

Well that means they are making sure you are curent on everything that your job is stable they just want to know if you are financially able to take care of a child meaning you have no worries about your bills rent car payment putting food on the table thats all nothing really my husband and i are going through the same thing it is just like when you go to buy a house they want to make sure you can do it and afford it with out worries ok i hope i helped you.

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