Some children are eligible for Social Security Insurance, or SSI. If he has already been approved, you will receive information at placement. If not, you will have to apply for benefits.

The definition of disabled varies for all different forms of insurance and for SSI. According to the Social Security Administration, a child must:

• The child has a physical or mental impairment (or combination of impairments) That causes marked and severe functional limitations; And has lasted or is expected to last for at least 12 consecutive months,... more

I blogged previously about the Indian Child Welfare Act. The blog explained how the tribe can take custody of a child if the child’s heritage is part of a federally recognized tribe.

This proposed legislation takes this act a step further. It would allow the tribe to receive federal foster care funds to care for the child. Previously the tribe would take custody of the child, but did not receive federal funding.

You can find a summary of the bill here.

The... more

A new bill (HB122) is being proposed in Utah that would allow foster parents to give permission for their foster children obtain a driver’s license.

One of the proponents of the bill is Senator Karen Mayne, who is a foster mother.

While on the surface this looks like a good bill, I have a few problems with it. First and foremost being my own child. Sammy will be eligible to begin driver’s training in about a year. There is no way I would want this child behind the wheel of a car.... more

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed in 1978 to try to keep children who had been removed from their parents’ custody within the tribe if at all possible.

If you have a child who is Native American, or part Native American, you may have to deal with this law.

One of the first questions a worker must ask when a child is removed from a home deals with ethnic heritage. The worker can not presume a child’s heritage simply by sight, the question must be formally asked of the parents and/or the child if old enough.

If... more

A story in the March 2008 edition of Reader’s Digest poses a difficult dilemma for foster/adopt children and their guardians.

In the story, a child was placed into a foster home a few months before his second birthday. He was never adopted by the foster family, but lived with them until he was eighteen, and continued to be part of the family even as an adult.

After both of his foster parents passed, his ability to claim anything in the estate was contested. The court ruled he had no right to any portion of the estate because... more

Now that the race is narrowing down and it looks like we have some front runner candidates for the Republicans and the Democrats, let’s take a look at their positions on adoption.

Disclaimer: I am not endorsing any candidate, nor am I saying you should vote for someone based on their position on adoption. Hillary Clinton has the most extensive list of a plan for adoption and foster care on her website. Among her suggested programs are:

1) Reward... more

There are different ways to do foster care and then there is the decision as to whether or not to adopt a foster child. Some people go into foster care in the hopes of adopting one (or more) of their foster children. Other people do strictly foster care, and others like me, only take in children that they intend to adopt. None of these methods are wrong, just different.

Let’s explore the difference between foster care, treatment foster care, and adoption. They are similar, but each one has its distinct differences.

Foster care

• Children of any... more

One of things you may deal with is visits with siblings. In most cases this discussion would take place before a child is placed in your home. Sometimes this can change if a child is born after your child is already in care. In foster care or pre-adoptive placements it can be mandatory that you agree to visits, but many times they are optional after an adoption is finalized.

I have only had kids where we have done sibling visits. In both Sammy and Hannah’s cases we still do. If Kory and Mackenzie had stayed we would have continued visits with their... more

I recently received an e-mail from Kids Are Waiting to alert me to an upcoming news conference. I’m sure everyone on their e-mail list received this e-mail but it is worth sharing.

On Tuesday, January 29, at 9:30 AM Eastern time Kids Are Waiting will be holding a press conference to reveal the results of a the study by Prevent Child Abuse America and Kids Are Waiting. They will discuss the financial cost to the country of child abuse and neglect.

The numbers are shocking. In 2007 the financial cost was a staggering... more

You may think that adopting while you live in a rural area is no different than adopting while you live in an urban area, but it is.

We have lived in the same rural area the entire time that we have had children. There are certain pros and cons to this way of living.

Our biggest pro has been the school. Living where we do means that our kids have gone to smaller schools and that has been a blessing, especially when there are special education need.

This is the same school I attended so we know many of the families there and there are even some teachers... more