Agency committed to thoughtful decisions

Every child deserves a safe and loving home. Idaho’s foster care and adoption program works tirelessly to make that a reality for our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. Recent media reports about a local family’s adoption case illustrate the challenges and emotion that can be part of child welfare decisions.

It’s important to recognize the grief that foster families feel when the child they are caring for is moved from their home — whether it is to reunify with birth parents or into an adoptive home. Foster families are vital to Idaho’s child welfare system, providing stability and support during a critical time in a child’s life. It takes a dedicated family to care for a child with no guarantee of maintaining that relationship long term.

Foster care is temporary care — in 70 percent of cases, children return to their birth families once the issues that threatened their safety are resolved. All new foster parents go through training that clarifies foster parenting is temporary and provides coping strategies to deal with the inevitable grief of separation when a child returns to birth parents or an adoptive home.

When a child enters foster care, all stakeholders make a long-term plan with court oversight for that child. Our goal is to find a permanent home within two years. We work toward reunification with birth parents, but we also begin work on an alternate plan that may involve adoption. If we cannot make progress toward reunification within the first year, adoption may be the best permanent solution. Ideally, the child will be able to stay with the same foster family throughout this process.

If adoption is the best option, we convene an adoption committee. The committee’s goal is to place the child with the family who can provide a stable environment to meet the child’s long-term needs. The committee weighs a number of factors, looking carefully at each interested household and the history of the child and any special needs they have now or might have in the future.

When a child is in foster care, Health and Welfare provides support and oversight of the foster family. With an adoptive family, Health and Welfare has no oversight once the adoption is complete. Many children who are adopted out of foster care have challenging issues. Sadly, some children return to state care when adoptive families cannot cope with their issues. This is why it is vital for the adoption committee to make the best possible choice.

Last year, 355 children were adopted through the department, with very few being disputed by stakeholders. However, we are working to improve the process by engaging all stakeholders more frequently so that case direction is transparent to everyone throughout the life of the case. The department values its foster parents and is working to enhance our partnership with them as members of the child protection team that includes prosecutors, parents, public defenders, CASA and the courts. Together, we are committed to making the most thoughtful decisions for Idaho’s foster and adoptive children.

EMILY SIMNITT

Public information

officer

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare