By Maritza Guridy, Deputy Director of Parent Voice and Outreach
My husband and I decided almost 10 years ago to open up our home and hearts to care for children that are in need of a place where they are cared for and loved. A place in which the child or children’s needs are met.
The word adoption is one that many associate with legally getting an infant to be a part of their family. Infants are not the only age group in which a person/family should consider taking a child or a sibling group into their home. There are 2 ways in which this can happen.
A private adoption is when a person or a couple acquire an attorney and adopt a child/children privately. The other way is having a child/children placed in your home via the foster care system. We chose the latter.
Adoption is not an easy path by any means. Once it happens the parent/parents must be prepared to live and love a person that was chosen by them to be a permanent part of their family. With this comes the realization that these child/children were not raised with the customs, traditions, mannerisms, spiritual/religious beliefs, and cultural ways in which their family was brought up in.
There are thousands of children in this country that have been placed in the care of the state. Through no fault of their own, they have been separated from their parents. The reasons are many as to why this happens—from neglect, abuse, and death of a parent/parents. There are even times—although rare—when a parent/parents voluntarily give up custody of their child/children due to not being able to care for them.
There are many organizations that oversee the legal adoption of children in the United States. I’ll talk about SWAN (The Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network), the one I have personal experience with. This network works with the Department of Human Services (DHS), the PA Adoption Exchange, public and private adoption agencies, organizations, advocates, judges, the legal community, and foster/adoptive parents. All of these entities work together to provide the best care for children in need of a temporary home or permanent home.
The hope and desire of many is to be able to bring home a newborn infant. To be able to raise a child to be like them or the other children in their family. It is very rare that a child comes into the foster care system as a newborn. The child/children that are placed in care are many times toddlers, young children, sibling groups, and teenagers. They are all in need of care due to not only what they have experienced with their birth parents or family, but also to deal with the trauma of being separated from them as well.
These children did not choose to be placed in care. It is not their fault that they have been separated from their families. I think that if there are adults out there that are patient and understanding who are willing to allow other caring adults to come into their homes to monitor and check in on them to make sure children are ok, adoption is possible. Together so many more children can be helped.
Here are a few of my personal suggestions on ways to support children that are currently waiting to be adopted or are in the foster care system.