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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Monday, March 05, 2007 - 2:52 am
In AK they changed the foster care system so that the kids can only be in foster care for 2 years. After 2 years the parents lose parental rights and the children are considered adoptable. I know many people who have gotten children through this system. My friend adopted 3 who were siblings and all were diagnosed with FAS. The oldest girl is now 19 and they are her guardians still as she has trouble making important decisions; such as not to sleep with every guy who wants her to. The second girl is 15, very popular, does excellent in school and is a freshman cheerleader. The boy who is about 13 is very smart but has separation issues from his birth mother as she lives one block away and has had a set of twins since she lost those 3 kids and is raising them very poorly. Same friend later became the foster parent to a 3 year old a few years ago and has since adopted him. He is now 5 or 6 and seems to be doing fine. My friend is 53 years old now so she wasn't young when any of this happened. Another friend adopted a 2 1/2 year old boy who they found out about through their church. He had been severely abused. They had some bumpy years but he's 15 now and doing great. They had to have been in their early 40's when they adopted because their daughter was grown and gone for some time. Another friend adopted two sisters. Her adoption took about two years for some reason. I had to write a letter for her twice because the person handling her stuff lost the first one. Makes me wonder why it took so long. Since, the adoption was final she has since moved to Washington. In AK, if I have the facts right, if you adopt a special needs kid, the state does help pick up medical/counseling costs even after the adoption is final. One problem about moving the kids to other states could be that AK Natives used to fight anyone who is non-Native adopting Native kids. I don't know if they still do or not. It would be worth checking into if you were interested in going that route.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Monday, March 05, 2007 - 7:00 am
Thank you Chilli for that info and for starting this thread! My dh and I are very anxious to adopt. We are in the "pool" and just waiting... I will see what I can look up on AK adoptions. That is interesting about the 2 year foster limit. I just wonder if they want the new family to be close enough to visit the birth family...
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Monday, March 05, 2007 - 11:17 am
I don't know much else about it but when my buddy gets home tonight I will call and ask her whatever questions you'd like. PM me if you want to. I don't think being near the bio parents is an issue once they have lost their parental rights. IMO if they wanted to be with their kids they wouldn't have left them in foster care for 2 years. I think once you adopt them, they're yours period. How does your state handle the foster kids or adoptable foster kids? You might check with the local child welfare office. We also have an agency called Fairbanks Counseling and Adoption that helps place kids.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Monday, March 05, 2007 - 12:44 pm
Thanks Chilli... I will email you. If you could ask your friend the name or website of the place they adopted from, that would be a good start. We have already been approved to be foster parents (as part of the whole adoption process)...
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