Learning About Foster Children Available for Adoption in Arizona

Have you considered opening your home to an Arizona foster child for adoption? Welcoming Arizona foster children available for adoption into your family is an affordable and rewarded avenue to building the family you’ve always wanted.  

 Private adoption has many great aspects going for it: greater certainty, an abbreviated timeline, and more control over the process, just to name a few. That being said, foster care adoption is still preferred by some hopeful families. The reason is that foster care adoption lets you give foster kids available for adoption in AZ the home they need and deserve.

Maybe you’re not sure whether private adoption or foster care adoption is right for your family, and that’s okay. Lots of hopeful parents wrestle with that decision. One thing that may be helpful is talking through your options with an adoption professional. You can speak with one of our specialists today by calling 1-800-ADOPTION or completing our online form.

In this guide, we’ll be focusing on foster children for adoption in Arizona: who they are, how many there are, and what special needs they may have. 

What Should I Know About Arizona Foster Kids Waiting for Adoption?

Foster kids for adoption in Arizona aren’t any different from children who aren’t in foster care in many important ways. Each one is on a journey to become the person they’re destined to be. They’re growing up, learning, playing, and spending time with friends. The main difference is that foster children waiting for adoption in AZ are in need of a stable, loving home.

Another key difference between the average foster child for adoption in AZ and any other kid is the average Arizona kid for adoption has probably endured profound childhood adversity in the home of their biological parents. That’s why foster care exists. When kids are abused, neglected, or abandoned by their parents or guardians, the state removes them from that dangerous environment. As a result, many experience loss and trauma.

How Many Arizona Children in Foster Care Available for Adoption Are There?

In the United States, there are about 400,000 children in the foster system under the age of 18. At any time, there are approximately 13,500 children in foster care in the Arizona state foster system. About 6,500 of those Arizona foster children available for adoption are eligible for adoption each year.

As of 2021 (the most recent full year that data was available), there were 2,905 adoptions finalized involving foster kids available for adoption. That number marked a decrease of 13.9% from 2019.

What Kinds of Special Needs Do Foster Children Up for Adoption in Arizona Have?

Many foster kids for adoption in Arizona are classified as “special needs,” but that description may not mean what you think. Instead, it is used to describe foster child placements that are particularly difficult for foster care adoption professionals.

A large number of AZ foster children up for adoption are in one of the categories mentioned below. If you’re considering foster care adoption, it’s wise to recognize the resulting challenges and consider them thoroughly. Please continue reading to learn more about some of the special needs children in foster care available for adoption in Arizona may have.

Sibling Groups

In the Arizona foster care system, the goal of the state is always reunification of biological families when possible.  When that’s not an option, the state is dedicated to placing Arizona foster children for adoption who are siblings in homes together.

Placing sibling foster kids available for adoption in Arizona jointly is critical for the well-being of the children in foster care. That’s because the siblings of kids in foster care are often the only constant in their lives. Some of the advantages of joint placement of sibling groups include:

• Mutual support from siblings during a trying time
• Better adjustment to new circumstances
• Emotional benefits
• Greater sense of security
• No lifetime of longing and searching for lost brothers and sisters
• Lower risk of failed placements
• Fewer moves

Older Children

Private domestic adoption primarily involves infants. However, welcoming foster kids for adoption in AZ into your family usually means you’re adopting an older child. That’s not an issue for many prospective parents, but if you want to adopt an infant, foster care adoption may not be right for you.

At American Adoptions, more than 99 percent of our placements involve newborns and infants. If adopting an infant aligns with your family-building plans, then partnering with us is a great way to reach your goals.

On the other hand, most AZ foster children available for adoption are older. In 2017, the national average age of a child in foster care was 7.7 years old. In Arizona, the median age of children adopted from foster care was 6 years old, and the median age for kids in foster care awaiting reunification or adoption was 6.9 years old. 

If you want to adopt an infant from foster care, your wait time will probably be prolonged. But if opening your home to an older AZ foster kid for adoption fits into your plan, it may not be an issue.

Physical/ Emotional Disabilities and Medical Conditions

Some foster children for adoption in Arizona have special mental, emotional, medical or developmental needs. There are hopeful parents who are specifically interested in adopting a child with special needs from foster care or a child with mobility issues. 

Raising any child can be financially, emotionally and physically challenging.  You must invest a great deal of time, knowledge and effort. But an AZ foster child for adoption with special needs requires even more from their parents, and not everyone is equipped with the resources to cope with that.

Even kids who don’t have physical or mental disabilities may have special unseen needs. For example, removal from the biological family and the comfort of familiarity is often a traumatic event for a child. However, there’s hope that providing the foster child for adoption in AZ with a permanent home and loving family will help with the healing process and give them the life they deserve.

What Welcoming in Arizona Foster Kids Up for Adoption May Mean for You

Opening your heart and home to foster children available for adoption in AZ is noble and loving. That doesn’t mean it’s not also challenging at times. Incorporating an adopted infant into your home and family can be a smooth process, but accepting an older AZ foster kid for adoption may involve difficulties like:

• More steps before finalization: If seeking a foster child for adoption in Arizona is part of your plan, you should know you’re required to undergo additional training that’s not usually a part of private domestic adoptions. Sometimes, these added steps slow the process or create scheduling conflicts. For instance, the PS-MAPP training spans 10 weekly sessions. There’s no training mandated by law for private domestic adoption, however.
• Adverse childhood situations are often traumatic: It’s common for foster children available for adoption in AZ to endure profound hardship and trauma prior to placement in foster care. The result is that these children may experience difficulty in their new circumstances requiring help from a counselor. For you, that could mean additional investments of time, emotion, and funds. With private domestic infant adoption, there’s no such risk. Your child will be with you from infancy. They’ll also benefit from open adoption, which can help them process feelings of loss, grief, and rejection.
• Fostering to adopt can be rough emotionally: Some prospective parents looking for AZ foster kids for adoption start off by “fostering to adopt” when the parental rights of the birth parents are intact. There are cases in which those parental rights aren’t terminated by the court, which can be difficult for an adoptive family to cope with. Even if it does happen eventually, it may be years before the child is eligible for adoption. In private domestic adoptions, birth parents waive their parental rights willingly, so once the adoption paperwork is signed, the adoption finalization process can begin.
• Chance of reunification with birth family: It’s common for those who want to welcome a foster child for adoption in AZ to start off fostering to adopt while awaiting the termination of the birth parent’s rights. For foster care agencies, nothing is more important than restoring children in foster care to their birth parents safely. That means adoption is a secondary goal until the parental rights of the birth parents are exhausted. That may be disappointing to would-be adoptive parents. You won’t experience that with private domestic adoption because once the adoption paperwork is signed, your child will become fully yours to love and nurture.

Reasons That Private Domestic Adoption Could Be the Right Way to Start Your Family

We understand you may want to open your home to foster children available for adoption in AZ, and that’s truly a noble act. We support your desire to do that. However, it’s a good idea to give some thought to the benefits offered by private domestic adoption before making your decision. It’s the most direct, certain path to permanent family growth.

Welcoming an AZ foster child for adoption into your home is noble. However, so is adopting an infant. Families who grow their families through private infant adoption report finding the experience life-altering. Some of the benefits of private infant adoption include:

• You will get a chance to adopt an infant
• There’s no need to be concerned the child will have existing trauma or difficulties stemming from childhood adversity
• The Adoption Planning Questionnaire (APQ) you complete will lead you to the perfect adoption experience
• There aren’t as many steps as with foster care adoption
• You’ll endure less uncertainty since birth parents provide consent before private adoption can proceed, and there’s no need to wait for the court to terminate the parental rights of biological parents
• You can choose open adoption and engage in free communication between you, your child, and the birth parents
• And much more

If you’re really set on a foster child for adoption in Arizona, then that’s probably the best way to grow your family. But if infant adoption seems to like a better way forward, there’s no better agency to work with than American Adoptions.

For almost three decades, we’ve helped more than 13,000 families with successful adoptions. We have an industry-leading 96% success rate and offer 800x more promotion and marketing than other leading competitors. That means you’ll experience much shorter wait times (between 9-12 months) when you partner with American Adoptions.

Our empathetic, experienced staff includes many licensed social workers who are themselves, adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth mothers. They’ve been in your shoes, know what it’s like, and are committed to helping you get through it.

If you’re still contemplating opening your home and heart to an infant through private adoption or an AZ foster kid for adoption, please get in touch with our specialists. We want to help. You can speak with someone today by calling 1-800-ADOPTION or filling out our online form.

Last Impressions on Children in Foster Care Waiting for Adoption in Arizona

Welcoming foster children available for adoption in Arizona into your family is a beautiful thing to be sure. It’s not right for every family, though, and there are some unique advantages to opting for private adoption when building the family of your dreams.

If you want to speak with someone about your options, simply call 1-800-ADOPTION or complete our online form to connect with one of our professionals today. 

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