To foster or adopt – that is the question. But what is the difference?

Some people believe that kids who come into the child welfare system are homeless.  The truth is, they have families and homes – they are going through hardship. The initial goal of foster care is to provide a safe, stable (and temporary) home for these children and to support their parents as they complete their case plans so the children can return home when it is safe to do so. When you sign on to be a foster parent, you are agreeing to support this worthy goal.

In some cases, reunification is no longer in the best interest of the child. In situations where parental rights must be terminated, FSS works to place children with relatives before taking steps toward permanency through adoption.

If your goal is to expand your family permanently, then FSS can help place children with you whose families weren’t able to complete their case plans and parental rights are terminated. This, of course, is adoption and you become a forever family for these children.

To foster OR to adopt depends on what you want to accomplish in your mission to support children. There’s no wrong answer – just the best path for you!

To begin your fostering journey, click here.

To learn more about adoption with Family Support Services, click here.

To learn more about how FSS strengthens families, click here.