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Navigating Adoption and Foster Care

Overview

Adoption and foster care can be a great way to start and grow your family. The mobile military life is not a barrier to adoption and foster care although some aspects of military life, such as deployments or relocations, can make the process a little more complicated. Despite the challenges, military families can provide foster and adopted children with wonderful homes.

Whether you’re just starting to think about adoption and foster care or have completed the process and have questions, you can depend on Military OneSource for both the guidance and information you need to make the process go more smoothly and for ongoing support of your new family.

Adoption

Military families have six adoption options:

  • Agency adoption
  • Independent adoption
  • Identified adoption (a blend of agency and independent adoption)
  • Open adoption (where there is communication between adoptive parents, the birth parents and the child)
  • Intercountry adoption
  • Foster care adoption

You’ll want to know the ins and outs of each option so you can think carefully about what kind of support you’ll need in the process.

Adoption consultations are available to answer your questions during every stage of the adoption process. Specially trained adoption consultants can help you:

  • Understand your adoption options
  • Locate sources of military-related financial assistance
  • Learn about state-specific requirements
  • Identify agencies and resources to help you with your family’s specific needs

Learn more about adoption specialty consultations.

Adoption can be more complicated when living overseas, but there are agencies and support groups to guide you. Many military families in the same situation successfully adopt every year. If the timing’s right for you to grow your family, living overseas won’t be an obstacle to adoption.

Learn more by visiting the U.S. Department of State Intercountry Adoption web page.

There are a number of available financial benefits for military families who adopt, including reimbursement for eligible adoption expenses and a tax credit. You can request up to $2,000 per child and $5,000 per calendar year in reimbursement for certain adoption expenses and may be eligible for a tax credit of no more than $15,950 per child.

Learn more in the following resources, and ask your adoption consultant for additional information:

Adoption involves a lot of steps, one of which is a home study. It’s a standard part of the adoption process. Working closely with a social worker or counselor, a home study can take several months. Try to be patient. Understand that a thorough home study is in the best interest of you and the child you plan to welcome into your family.

Learn more in this downloadable form The Adoption Home Study Process from the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Foster care

Foster care provides temporary homes to children who are removed from their homes due to health, safety or other circumstances. Foster care is designed with the goal of reuniting families once the crisis or situation leading to foster care has been resolved.

When reuniting children with their families is not possible, foster children may be placed for adoption. An estimated quarter of a million children are placed in foster care in our country each year, and there are not enough foster homes to meet the need.

Military families can play a critical role in helping foster children overcome challenging life experiences by providing a stable and supportive home environment through the foster care program in their state. There are a variety of different resources to assist military families who are exploring foster care opportunities.

Adoption consultations are available to answer your questions during every stage of the adoption or fostering process. Specially trained adoption consultants can help you understand your adoption and fostering options, locate sources of military-related financial assistance, learn about state-specific requirements, and identify agencies and resources to help you with your family’s specific needs.

Learn more about adoption specialty consultations.

Foster care is a great way to start or grow your family. Child welfare community members are increasingly viewing fostering as an important step toward adoption as many of the children who are not reunified with their birth families are adopted by their foster parents.

For information about foster care programs and how to become a foster care parent, visit the AdoptUSKids website.

Benefits enrollment information for new family members

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Visit the TRICARE website for more information about how to secure TRICARE coverage when adopting a child.

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Learn more about how to enroll your pre-adoptive, adopted or foster child in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS.

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Learn about available benefits for family members with special needs, including TRICARE Extended Care Health Option, durable medical equipment, and home and mental health care. You can also find information and contacts for government benefits such as Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance and more.

Parenting support

Still have questions?

Military OneSource consultants are available 24/7 to help answer your questions and connect you with the adoption and foster care resources you need.

Overseas? See OCONUS calling options.

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Military families can find an array of parenting and family support from the Defense Department, Military OneSource and the Military Family Readiness System, which promotes military family well-being by offering programs and services that enhance family readiness, resilience and quality of life.

Find additional parenting support through:

Parents can also learn about the expanded military parental leave program. Service members may be eligible for 12 weeks of non-chargeable, paid parental leave to welcome a child into their family through adoption or long-term foster care.

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