The adoption thereafter proceeds as described for a private agency adoption. The risk is to the prospective adoptive parents because there is no guarantee the child they are fostering will become available for adoption. Only 10 percent of children placed in foster care are adopted. The remaining 90 percent either return to their homes or, in the case of an older teenager, make the transition to independent living. There is no fee to adopt through a public agency.
Foster parents receive payment for caring for children.
If this care evolves into an adoption, the adopting parents may usually receive subsidy payments at the same rate as foster care until the child reaches at least the age of 18. Copyright 1999 Ellen Ann Callahan, Attorney at Law.