Category: Adoption

Idaho Training Info

If you are doing an independent adoption, please check in with your adoption worker on training needed
To adopt through foster care in Idaho, a 27-hour Blended Pre-Service Training Program is required. A Family For Every Child is currently offering it at NO COST through Foster Parent College

In the state of Idaho, the licensing and approval process typically takes 90-120 days. A Family For Every Child provides what you need for each step of the way.

Adoption Worker Guidance


Your AFFEC adoption worker will guide you through:

  1. Orientation

  2. Foster/adoptive parent application and Criminal History Background Check

  3. The 27-hour Blended Pre-Service Training, and the Reasonable and Prudent Parent training which can be completed during duel licensing assessment or home study. Available through A Family For Every Child at Foster Parent College

Know your ID #

ID # Region Counties
1460 Region 1 Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Shoshone, Benewah
1460 Region 2 Latah, Nez Perce, Clearwater, Lewis, Idaho
1226 Region 3 Adams, Washington, Payette, Gem, Canyon, Owyhee
1236 Region 4 Valley, Boise, Ada, Elmore
1103 Region 5 Camas, Blaine, Gooding, Lincoln, Jerome, Minidoka, Twin Falls, Cassia
1274 Region 6 Bingham, Bannock, Power, Caribou, Bear Lake, Franklin, Oneida
1505 Region 7 Lemhi, Custer, Butte, Clark, Jefferson, Fremont, Madison, Teton, Bonneville

Oregon Adoption Agency

An Oregon Adoption Agency Since 2008!

A Family For Every Child (AFFEC), a non profit organization, began with its founder Christy Obie-Barrett, a mother of 12 children – 9 of which are adopted. Christy wanted to make a difference in the lives of more children and found a way through non profits. In January 2006, AFFEC was created to help find permanent homes for many of Oregon’s waiting children with special focus on special needs/hard to place children.

In 2008, A Family for Every Child became licensed as an adoption agency in the State of Oregon, beginning the next stage of our journey!

As an adoption agency, A Family for Every Child has developed our own systems and applications to optimize the adoption process, making it easier for everyone involved! We pride ourselves in completing home studies faster and more affordably (We only charge what it costs us!) than traditional adoption agencies. Families who choose our agency can expect transparency and collaboration throughout the home study process!

 

The Basics of Adoption

Step 1: Selecting An Agency

The first step in your adoption journey is to select the adoption agency you want to work with. Your adoption agency must be licensed in your state to perform the type of adoption you are interested in. There are two general categories of adoption: foster care and independent.

A foster care adoption is when a family is adopting a child who is currently a ward of the state. An independent adoption is the adoption of a child who is not currently a ward of the state. Independent adoptions include infant adoption, step-child adoption, kin adoption, etc. 

We recommend selecting an agency offering transparency in its process and pricing, an excellent reputation in the community, and values that align with your family. 

Step 2: Adoption Orientation

A Family for Every Child offers all prospective adoptive parents the opportunity to attend a free Adoption Orientation prior to engaging in adoption services with our agency. Orientation includes:

  • A comprehensive overview of the adoption process from start to finalization, and beyond,
  • The needs and characteristics of the children the agency serves, and
  • An accounting of all projected costs related to the adoption process.

Step 3: Parent Training

All states require prospective adoptive parents to attend a comprehensive training program designed to build the skills needed when parenting children who have experienced trauma.

A Family for Every Child outlines the specific training guidelines applicable to our program and supports each adoptive parent in accessing training and applying the skills learned.

Step 4: Adoption Application

Prior to completing an adoptive home study, prospective adoptive parents submit a comprehensive application and supporting documentation. A Family for Every Child’s application includes:

  • The applicant’s motivation to adopt,
  • A fingerprint-based background check for all household members 18 and older,
  • Confirmation of adoption training completion,
  • Autobiographical information about all household members,
  • A medical form indicating the applicant’s health,
  • Financial documentation indicating the family can meet the needs of the child(ren) they are seeking to adopt,
  • Documents outlining the applicant’s willingness to comply with state licensing requirements,
  • If applicable, marriage certificates or divorce decrees,
  • Character references, and
  • Details about the needs and characteristics of the child they are seeking to adopt.

Step 5: Home Study

An adoptive home study is a legal document that determines an individual or couple’s adoption eligibility. When a prospective family’s application is complete, and basic eligibility has been established, the family is assigned to an adoption worker. The adoption worker completes:

  • Individual interviews with all household members,
  • Individual interviews with any children living outside the home,
  • An interview with the couple, if applicable,
  • An in-home safety assessment,
  • Six character references, and
  • Any other documentation or interviews needed to determine the applicant’s eligibility for adoption.

The adoption worker leverages all information gathered in the application and interview process to author the home study.  Each A Family for Every Child home study goes through a rigorous editing and approval process prior to finalization. When completed, the family receives a copy of the home study.

If the family is participating in an independent adoption, they will provide their home study to their attorney who will assist them in petitioning the court for adoption. If the family is participating in adoption from foster care, the family will transition into the matching or selection phase of adoption.

Step 6: Matching

A Family for Every Child supports our home study certified families in a national child recruitment effort by leveraging a variety of county, state, and federal child listings. Child listings typically include a picture of the child and a short biography that describes the child’s characteristics. Families will only receive additional information about a child if they submit their home study to the child’s caseworker and the child’s caseworker believes the family is a potential match for the child.  

The matching phase of foster adoption can be especially frustrating for families. Roughly eight out of ten submissions will not receive a response from the child’s caseworker. One out of ten will receive a response but the child’s needs will well exceed what the family has been home study approved to adopt. That leaves one out of ten submissions as a possible match for families to consider. On average, our families who are placed with a child within eight to twelve months of home study completion submit on 100-150 children.

When a child’s caseworker feels the family is a good potential match, the caseworker will reach out to the family or adoption worker and provide a summary of the child’s needs.

If after reviewing the summary with their adoption worker the family wants to proceed with the match, a meeting is typically set up between the child’s caseworker, family, and adoption worker. During this time, the child’s caseworker will be interviewing multiple families in an effort to find the best match for the child.

The child’s caseworker will typically review home studies and interview applicant families until they are prepared to make a placement selection for the child.

Step 7: Placement

After selection and before placement, the family should receive disclosure documentation from the child’s team outlining the child’s needs and history.

The adoption worker, family, and child’s caseworker work together to create and execute a plan for transitioning the child from their current residence to the family’s home. This includes ensuring any therapeutic services the child is currently receiving are mapped over to the family’s community. Continuity of care for the child is critical.

During the time when the child is placed in the adoptive home but the adoption has not yet been finalized, the family and child will be supported by an adoption worker. They will provide parent coaching, support, help locating additional resources, and accountability throughout the month. They will visit the family and child in the home at least once per month.

Want more information?

Email adoption@afamilyforeverychild.org or call our agency at 541-343-2856 to sign up for a free adoption Orientation. Orientations are scheduled multiple times a month and are a great opportunity to get all of your adoption-related questions answered. 

Assistance for Adoptive Families

There are many resources and supports available to assist families with their decision to adopt.

Adoption Subsidy

Some of the children who are adopted through Child Welfare are considered children with “special needs.” Special needs, as defined by the Department of Children and Families includes:

  • A child who has one or more special needs as a result of a mental, emotional or physical impairment, behavioral disorder, or medical condition that has been diagnosed by a licensed professional who is qualified to make the diagnosis
  • A child who is a member of a sibling group of 2 to be adopted together and one of the children is 8 years of age or older
  • A child is a member of a sibling group of 3 or more to be adopted together
  • A child is a member of an ethnic or cultural minority of whom reasonable, but unsuccessful efforts to place the child in an adoptive home were made and documented
  • The child’s birth and/or family history places the child at risk of having special needs but, due to the child’s age, a reliable diagnosis cannot be made.

Adoption subsidies are available to parents who adopt children who have physical or mental disabilities, or severe emotional problems. In addition to those children who qualify for subsidy through the Federal Title IV-E Adoption Assistance program, state subsidies are available to offset the additional costs of caring for a child with special needs. The subsidy programs are intended to remove financial barriers to the adoption of children with special needs, but they are not intended to cover the full cost of raising a child. The amount of the subsidy cannot be greater than the amount that child would have received had the child remained in a family-based foster care setting. The benefits available through the adoption subsidy programs are determined on an individual basis and may include monthly care and maintenance payments (a daily rate), health insurance coverage.

Adoption Tax Credit

In the summer of 2001, the Federal Adoption Tax Credit was updated. The most important update was to expand benefits to children with special needs adopted from the U.S. foster care system. Originally families adopting from the foster care system could claim the adoption tax credit, provided they had qualifying expenses. Unfortunately, the IRS list of qualifying expenses was limited to the cost of the adoption process, but not the day-to-day costs of raising a child with special needs. However, beginning in tax year 2003, families adopting a child with special needs from foster care, had access to this same tax credit without needing to document expenses. Since tax year 2005, the tax credit is $10,630 and you have the current year and up to the next five years in which to use it. For families that adopted in 2002 or earlier, you can only claim the credit against expenses you paid related to the adoption process.

If you have questions on the adoption tax credit, contact the North American Council on Adoptable Children at 651-644-3036 or  adoption.assistance@nacac.org. You can also visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov or call 1-800-829-1040.

Employee Benefits

Employer adoption benefits may include reimbursement for costs, paid or unpaid time-off and other support services. For more information contact the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption at 1-877-777-4222 or info@adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org, or visit their website.

Resources

Adoption Questions

Getting Started

 

What kinds of questions might I ask about a perspective adoption?What kind of information do I need about my adopted child? When is it provided?

  • Why the child was initially (and, if applicable, subsequently) placed in foster care
  • A description of the home environment from which the child was removed
  • Details about the child’s other placements while in care

When children join a new foster or adoptive family,they often bring complicated histories that include abuse and neglect.

Some children have multiple diagnoses that affect their health, social and emotional well-being, and school performance. The more you know, the better prepared you can be to advocate for your child and handle situations as they may arise. Accurate information will also help you know more clearly why and when you may need to seek support from various professionals, get advice from experienced foster and adoptive parents, or tap into other community resources for help.

Social and Medical History

Start by learning as much as you can about your prospective child's social and medical history from your state, province, county, or agency. Specific rules on what must be shared vary by state and province. You should seek the following information:

Adoption Questions
  • The child’s school records and other details about the child’s educational experiences and abilities
  • An assessment of how well the child interacts with peers, adults, and others
  • Immunization and other health records (including diagnoses such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and problems arising from other prenatal drug exposure or pre-term delivery, attachment difficulties, learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral problems, and other mental health concerns)
  • A checklist of the child’s behaviors, and how certain diagnoses and issues play out in family life as well as how other families have learned to cope with them
  • Non-identifying details about the birth parents (including their general background, education, employment, armed services history; social or medical risk factors, drug usage, medical and mental health history, other children, and extended birth family history). Also inquire about the birth mother’s care during pregnancy, and any risk factors for the child due to the mother’s experiences during pregnancy or complications during delivery.

Information from Former Caregivers

Former caregivers may also be willing to share what they know about the family and offer insight about the child. Questions you might ask include:

  • What information about the child’s and the birth family’s social and medical history do you believe is significant?
  • What is missing from the paperwork?
  • How can I get more information?
  • Currently, how is the child’s health? Are there any diagnoses or allergies you know of that are not listed in his file?
  • Is the child still in touch with his/her birth family? If not, when was the last contact the child had with the birth family?
  • Does the child have siblings? Does the child have contact with the siblings? Will contact continue and to what degree?
  • Is the child showing behaviors related to abuse, separation, or other trauma? Have other children been victimized by this behavior? If so, how?
  • How many moves has the child experienced in foster care? What were the reasons for the moves? How is the child functioning as a result?
  • How does the child relate to peers in the neighborhood and school?
  • What methods of discipline does the child respond to best?
  • What comforts the child? What comforting objects do you think should follow the child into adoption?
  • What items, smells, foods, experiences, or events seem to trigger negative behavior in the child?
  • What, in your opinion, is at the root of these behaviors? What in the child’s past might be causing him or her to behave in certain ways?
  • Would you be willing to tell the child that he or she has your permission to join our family?
  • Would you be willing to maintain some contact with the child during the transition to adoption? Provide respite care?

Take Action

After gathering all the information you can, the most important thing you can do is to firmly commit to doing whatever it takes to help the child let go of the pain from his past and learn to face the future with hope. To learn more about the importance of family background information and find links to specific state laws, visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway

I'm having problems with the child welfare system. What can I do to help change it?

If you want to help change the system, join others who are already working in that area. Contact the parent groups in your area (find a database of groups at this link) to find out what they are doing or if they know of other advocacy groups you can get involved with. To report a specific problem, contact your adoption manager or the NACAC representative in your state. You may also want to contact one of AdoptUsKids’ Training and Technical Assistance consultants (a directory of staff and consultants is available at AdoptUsKids: Permanency - Tools and Resources).

Getting Started

Disclaimer: The views and opinions reflected in the blogs listed below are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of A Family For Every Child.

Financial Aid

Before you take a loan out from someone else, consider borrowing money from yourself. Many company 401k plans allow employees to borrow up to 50% of their current 401k balance. Keep in mind, however, that there may be a fee associated with withdrawing from your 401k early.

Adoption Grants, Loans and Fundraising Resources

    • Peer to Peer Fundraising
      Peer to Peer fundraising gives potential adoptive parents the opportunity to include their friends and family in a fundraising effort for adoption fees to begin their adoption journey.
    • Adopt Together
      AdoptTogether is a non-profit funding platform helping families raise money to pay for adoption costs.
    • Both Hands
      Organization that helps with raising funds for a specific family’s adoption.
    • Pure Charity
      Develop a project to help you raise money toward your goal of adoption.
    • You Caring
      Simple way of raising funds by setting up a profile for your cause.
    • ABBA Fund
      Adoption Assistance for Christian families in the form of interest-free loans.
    • Adoption Subsidies
      Information on adoption subsidies courtesy of NACAC.
    • Affording Adoption Foundation
      Families may apply for grants to help finance their adoptions.
    • Boatner Family Foundation(no link)
      This foundation provides grants from $1,000 up to $10,000. They require an agency approval, a financial statement, and a formal application. P.O. Box 132272, The Woodlands, TX 77393
    • Gift of Adoption Fund
      Provides grants to qualified adoptive families.
    • God’s Grace Adoption Ministry
      Provides financial assistance to Christian families seeking to adopt in the form of grants and interest-free loans.
    • Hebrew Free Loan Association
      Provides interest-free loans to Jewish families living in Northern California.
    • Help available to adopt special needs kids
      A Chicago Tribune article on grants available to families adopting special needs children.
    • Heart of the Bride
      Fundraising Resources for Adoptive Families
    • Helping Kids Cope
      Helps families defray the cost of adoption through their Parens-to-Be program.
    • Help US Adopt
      Help US Adopt offers adoptive families grants of up to $15,000 towards their domestic, international, foster, or special needsadoption expenses.
    • LifeSong for Orphans
      Offers adoptiongrants, loans, and funding solutions.
    • National Adoption Foundation
      Awards grants four times a year, and also has a loan program.
    • Parenthood for Me
      Provides adoption or medical grants to families who do not have children.
    • Resources 4 Adoption
      Resources 4 Adoption offers information on over 40 grant programs, adopting coaching, social networks, loans, fundraisers, employer benefits, military benefits, and more.!
    • The Value of Adoption Subsidies: Helping Children Find Permanent Families
      NACAC guide for adoption professionals on the value of adoption subsidies and the benefits they provide to children and families.
    • Adopt Without Debt: Creative Ways to Cover the Cost of Adoption
      The author Julie Gumm shares how to apply for grants, fundraise, and find extra money in your budget to finance your adoption.
    • The Adoption Planner
      Adoptive Families provides downloadable worksheets for selecting an adoption route, budgeting and planning.
    • Adoption Costs and How to Meet Them
      In this free webinar from Adoptive Families, learn about the common costs of adoption, and how to finance your adoption through grants, loans, fundraising, the adoption tax credit, financial gifts, and more.
    • Resources 4 Adoption
      Provides adoption financing education, information, and resources.

Associates Home Loan Adoption Grant
The $1,000 Associates Home Loan Adoption Grant was created in 2020 to assist those who are wanting to adopt but may need financial assistance in the process.

Idaho Resources

Post-adoption Family Resources

Medical:

Legal Services:

Therapeutic Intervention and Counseling:

Mental Health Services:

Support Groups:

Trauma-Informed Care:

Idaho Disability Resources:

State Services:

Dental Services

Advocacy Groups:

Assistive Technology:

Community Engagement / Day Activity / Recreation and Respite Programs:

Horse Riding:

Early Intervention:

Education:

Teen and Adult Employment Services:

Financial Services:

Parenting and Family Support Groups:

Transportation:

1-541-343-2856