Tag Archives: adopting from foster care

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Outstanding Adoptive Family Success Story: Karen and Trevor Booker

Across the county, foster parents take children in need into their homes. In some cases, these same children become a part of their families forever through adoption. New Jersey foster parent Karen Booker knows this story well.

outstanding adoptive familyWhat has made such an impact on Karen’s life was her decision to foster over 50 children, 3 of whom she has adopted. Karen touched so many lives during her 5 years of being a licensed foster parent and continues to keep her home open to children in care.

The Booker’s journey to becoming the Outstanding Adoptive Family of the Year at Foster and Adoptive Family Services (FAFS) and the Division of Child Protection and Permanency’s (DCP&P) Annual Recognition Brunch began when her biological children were getting ready to go to college. Rather than having another child, she said she decided to foster because she “knew that there were a lot of children out there who needed homes and needed love.”
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Trusting the Foster to Adopt Process

The journey from foster care to adoption can be a long, trying and uncertain road. The Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) annual Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Report for 2015 found that the national average for time spent between becoming a foster child and being adopted was 31.7 months. While that may seem like a long time, it marks a noticeable improvement from 2003, when the ACF found the national average to be 44.5 months.

Foster to Adopt
Spending close to two years in foster care may seem like an eternity, but the process takes this long to ensure the best for the child. Prior to 1997, states ran foster care systems in accordance with the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980. The act promoted permanency by requiring states to make reasonable efforts to prevent the removal of children from their homes, as well as reunite the children who had been removed. Continue reading →

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Adoption Story: Heidi Davis and Sharia Renee Davis

Heidi Davis didn’t become a foster parent with any intention of adoption.

She already had three daughters of her own. Still – the Branchburg resident wanted to help children in need so she, along with her husband Roger, went through the licensing process and opened their home.

Adoption StoryBut if you asked them if they ever intended on adding a member to the family permanently, they’d flatly tell you no.

Sharia changed all that.

The then 16 month old girl was placed with Davis on February 28, 2012. Continue reading →