Foster to Adopt through the Bair Foundation

We did Foster/Adopt directly thru CPS. We're in Texas also. We initially were going to do "adopt only", but thru the training realized that we wouldn't get to bond with the child the first 12-18 months that they were in custody, and would only get them after termination of parental rights. So we took a deep breath and jumped into Foster/Adopt. Our 1st adoption will final in a couple of weeks, (Lord-willing, and the creek don't rise!) He is our 2nd placement, he was 6 m/o when he came to us, and we've had him 25 months. That may SOUND like a long time, but you are so busy during the process that it goes by fast. Feel free to PM me, I see you've joined the Foster/Adoptive Parenting group, you can get a LOT of questions answered and support and an idea of what you might be dealing with there. It's very active, and many knowledgable, caring women will help you thru. Good luck!

My dh & I do foster care but are also licensed for adoption. We decided to not say never to adoption. If you do decide to do foster care then go into it expecting your heart to be broken but each time it is it grows larger. It's heart breaking at times for the children to go home however it's also a joy to see them going home knowing that the parents have made changes and hopefully they stick. Then there are the times you are more then ready for them to go home because you just don't mesh. We're in the country and had a city slicker in our home for about 6 months. Did not work well. Also not every child comes up for adoption so you have to be able to let go and let them go happily so that it is easier on the child.

My previous supervisor was the executive director of our local Bair Foundation. The children who were placed with this group were high needs children and needed very understanding homes. Children who smeared fecal bacteria on the walls, children who masturbated in public and screamed out sexual words, and children who sometimes were violent with other children. Also children that seemed to have difficulty attaching to other people. I don't say this to scare you away and perhaps your local foundation is different. I say this only to be real about the situations children who were contracted out to this foundation are sometimes like. They seemed, from my perspective, to be children who were difficult to place and had extra extraordinary needs in terms of needing parents who truly could be accepting of that child.  God bless you if you can do this but the road is long and not always easy to navigate.