SAUVOLAW UPDATE
Your Source for Legal Information

Florida Adoption Cases

By Nicole Sauvola

Sauvola & Associates, P.A.

March, 2006
Contents

FLORIDA ADOPTIONS

What is Adoption?
Adoption is a legal action that gives all parental rights to adoptive parents, making the adopted child a legal member of the new family with all the rights and privileges of a biological child.

Who Can Adopt?
Most adults who can provide a stable, loving home to a child can adopt. Married couples, single parents, working mothers, parents who already have children, people who live in apartments, and people of any religious faith, race, and education level will be considered. There is also a need for adoptive families who have the patience to parent a teen who may be slow to trust.

Over 58% of our adoptive placements are with foster parents who cared for the children as foster children first. Recruited families make up 22 percent of those who adopt, followed by relatives of the child, at 20 percent. However, it is not necessary to be a foster parent to adopt a foster child.

Who Can Be Adopted?
It is important to remember that most foster children are reunited with their parents or are placed with relatives and never become available for adoption. However, foster children whose birth parents' parental rights have been terminated by the courts may be adopted.

Adoption of a child in the care and custody of Florida's Department of Children and Families or a licensed private child-placing agency is limited to "Special Needs" children. Parents seeking to adopt non-special needs children will be referred to private agencies.

"Special Needs" refers to those children in the care and custody of Florida's Department of Children and Families or a licensed private child-placing agency, and children who meet at least one of the following criteria:

  1. The child has significant emotional ties with his foster parents or relative caregiver.
  2. The child is at least eight years old.
  3. The child is mentally handicapped.
  4. The child is physically handicapped.
  5. The child is emotionally handicapped.
  6. The child is black or has racially mixed heritage.
  7. The child is a member of a sibling group being placed for adoption as a unit.
While many teens have experienced multiple rejections and are hesitant to try adoption, it is important for them to have a family to assist them through the remaining years of adolescence and to be supportive into their adult years. Family ties do not end at age 18.

How Do I Find Out About The Children Available For Adoption?
Your caseworker will provide you with information about and pictures of children available for adoption. To view pictures and a short bio about each child or sibling group available for adoption, go to the listing of Available Children, on the Department of Children and Families web site.

What Does It Cost To Adopt?
Many of our most successful adoptive parents are older or have modest incomes. As long as you can provide for a child's basic material needs, you may adopt. Children need loving and patient parents, not necessarily wealthy ones.

Florida does not charge to place foster children in adoptive homes. The main costs for a foster care adoption are court costs and attorney fees. In most cases, these costs are less than $500 and may be reimbursed by the state.

How Long Does It Take To Adopt?
The answer varies. The process to become an approved adoptive parent includes attending a preparation course of ten weeks, obtaining local, state and federal background checks, current physical exam, and completion of a home study. The process can usually be completed in eight months.

When a child is matched with your family, pre-placement activities will occur including visits and regular communications with the child. Placement of the child will occur as soon as the child is comfortable. The child's counselor will supervise the placement for a minimum of 90 days. When the supervision period is completed, the counselor will provide consents to your attorney and a hearing may be scheduled for legalization of the adoption.

Will I Get Historical Information On The Child I Adopt?
You will be given the child's foster care history including the circumstances involving his removal, the child's medical history including the birth and delivery information, any assessments or psychological evaluations completed, and the child's current daily habits and preferences. Non-identifying social and medical information about biological parents and birth family will also be provided.

What Kind Of Post-Adoption Support Is Available?
For children with special needs, financial assistance to help meet their expenses may be available.

Are college tuitions paid for adopted children?
Yes. Children adopted through DCF after May 5, 1997, are eligible to receive up to four years of college tuition exemptions at Florida universities, colleges and vocational training schools.

Is there any financial assistance provided to Florida's adopted children?
Yes. Anyone who is adopted from the Department of Children and Family Services after May 5, 1997 is eligible to receive fee exemptions associated with the payment of tuition and fees for enrollment in postsecondary career and technical programs, community colleges or state universities. Such exemption includes fees associated with enrollment in vocational-preparatory instruction and completion of the college-level communication and computation skills testing program. This exemption remains valid for no more than 4 years after the date of graduation from high school.

Is there a number to call for additional Florida adoption information?
Yes. Sauvola & Associates, P.A., and Nicole Sauvola, Esquire can assist you in contracting with Florida's Adoption Center -- please contact us at (561)515-6118. 

PROFILE OF FLORIDA'S CHILDREN

How many children are currently in foster care in Florida that do not have families to adopt them?
A total of 4,642 children are available for adoption and families have been identified for more than 2,727 of them. The remaining 1,915 desperately need adoptive families.

How long are available children waiting to be adopted?
On average, 41 percent of children wait up to two years to be adopted, 22 percent have been waiting up to three years and 37 percent wait more than three years.

What is the racial or ethnic heritage of children needing to be adopted?
Currently, children without adoptive families include 1,131 African-American children, 647 Caucasian children, 95 Hispanic children and 42 Bi-racial children.

How many boys and girls need adopting?
A total of 1,110 males need families, compared to 805 females.

What are the ages of available children?
A total of 507 children 15 or over need families, 742 are 11-14 year olds, 440 are 6-10 year olds and 226 are 0-5 year olds. Of those 0-5, all are members of sibling groups who want to be adopted by one family or have serious medical needs.

Are families encouraged to adopt all members of a sibling group?
Yes. The department makes every effort to keep brothers and sisters together. A total of 376 sibling groups are currently available for adoption. The majority, 232, are composed of two children, 95 are composed of three children, 34 are composed of four children, 10 are composed of five children, 4 are composed of six children and 1 is composed of eight children.

What is the time frame for the fastest adoption in Florida?
If you agree to adopt a child from a foster care facility in Florida, the average finalization of adoptions is a little over five months (actual 5.3 months). This includes adoptions by foster parents and relative caregivers, as well as recruited families. Their success is attributed to monitoring progress at three-month intervals. All members of the permanency team, including attorneys, counselors and adoptions staff, meet every 3-6 months to address the status of permanency decisions.

STREAMLINING THE PROCESS:

Placing the Right Child With The Right Family is The Most Important Thing We Do At Sauvola & Associates, P.A.   We are participating in the following programs to help facilitate that goal.

  • Camp Cool Kidz
    Camp Cool Kidz will offer parents considering adopting a new approach to the adoption process. The camp will bring together children and potential parents in a fun, activity-filled camp. Camps will allow potential parents the opportunity to spend an entire week with a child in a relaxed atmosphere prior to their-both parent and child's-commitment to becoming a family. Camps will pilot this spring in the Orlando and Tampa areas.
  • Public Awareness
    National Adoption Month provides the perfect backdrop to increase public awareness about connecting parents and children for lasting families. In November, the Florida Department of Children and Families is launching, "No Place Like Home," an initiative that includes public service announcements, expanded community outreach and an improved website at www.fladopt.org. Additional adoption awareness partnerships are also being developed with businesses, nonprofits, universities and faith-based organizations.