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About Adoption – Children and Family
Most kids in the child care framework in the end return home or are set for all time with family members or family companions. Be that as it may, a few youngsters can never return home. These youngsters are needing perpetual receptive families. At the present time, in excess of 100 neighborhood youngsters are standing by to meet their eternity families in Northwest Florida.
These youngsters are normally more established, school matured kids. Many are individuals from kin bunches who need to grow up together in a similar family. Some have mental, physical or enthusiastic requirements. Many are offspring of shading. All have encountered injury and torment, however their accounts are a long way from being done. With the assistance of an adoring perpetually family, the following section in their lives can be brimming with expectation and mending.
Receiving a kid “with extraordinary necessities” can be testing and troublesome. It requires new parents to have tolerance and unrestricted pledge to a youngster as the person in question gradually figures out how to trust and recuperate from the encounters that carried them into the framework. Selection is likewise compensating for guardians as they watch their kids at long last begin to have a sense of security and settled and start to bloom. Appropriation implies another opportunity for a kid to have a deep rooted, adoring perpetually family. Selection implies a promise to a youngster’s whole life!
Adoption Process
All adoption applicants must complete a 27-hour training program called Quality Parenting Training (QPT). There is no cost to anyone for this class. Adoption applicants also must participate in an adoptive home study. This process includes family as well as individual interviews, FBI, FDLE and local police checks as well as child abuse clearances, references and income verifications.
Adoption Benefits
There is no cost to anyone who adopts a child or children from the foster care system through the Department of Children and Families and FamiliesFirst Network. Adoptive families receive training, supervision and post adoption support services. Adopted children are eligible to receive a monthly maintenance subsidy, medical coverage through Medicaid and “free” college tuition.
ADOPTIVE HOME REQUIREMENTS
o Both married and single adults may apply to adopt.
o Prior parenting experience is not required to adopt.
o Adoptive families must have sufficient income to meet their own expenses as well as those of the adopted child, but there are no set income limits for adoptive families.
o An adoptive family must have sufficient room in their home for an adopted child, but there are no set requirements about housing.
o Adoptive parents must have sufficient physical and emotional ability to meet the needs of an adopted child, but otherwise there are no restrictions on the age or medical conditions of an adoptive applicant.
o Individuals convicted of certain crimes of violence such as child abuse, domestic violence or murder may not adopt.
DCF Training
Preventing Sexual Harassment for ALL Employees
This course has been developed to inform all non-DCF employees of their responsibilities under the Departmentâs Zero-Tolerance Sexual Harassment Policy.
All employees including Supervisors and Managers should complete this training.
- Approximate time to complete the course: 25 minutes.
- NOTE: DCF and APD employees should not use this link as it is not tracked. Instead, use the DCF Web Portal to receive proper credit.
- If you have any questions or need special accommodations to complete the training, please contact your Contract Manager.
Preventing Sexual Harassment for Supervisors and Managers
The goal of this course is to focus specifically the role of Managers and Supervisors in âpreventingâ and âreportingâ Sexual Harassment.
- Please note that Preventing Sexual Harassment for All Employees is a prerequisite for to this course.Â
- Approximate time to complete the course: 20 minutes.
- NOTE: DCF and APD employees should not use this link as it is not tracked. Instead, use the DCF Web Portal to receive proper credit.
- If you have any questions or need special accommodations to complete the training, please contact your Contract Manager.
Assisted Living Facilities with a Limited Mental Health License
- Section 429.075, F.S., requires an assisted living facility that serves one or more mental health residents to obtain a limited mental health license. A facility that has a limited mental health license must ensure that the administrator and the staff who are in direct contact with mental health residents complete training that is provided by or approved by the Department.
- Immediately upon completion of the course, a post-test is offered and upon passage, a certificate of completion is electronically generated.
Security Awareness Training
- This course is intended for all non-Department staff who access Department of Children and Families (DCF) computer systems. This may include APD employees and contracted providers, as well as users of any DCF confidential computer generated media. All DCF employees and contractors working directly with the Department are required to complete the “Intranet” version to ensure the tracking of course completion. This course provides a brief overview of the Department’s rules and guidelines concerning computer security.
- Approximate time to complete the course: 23 minutes
- NOTE: DCF and APD employees should not use this link as it is not tracked. Instead, use the DCF Web Portal to receive proper credit.
- If you have any questions or need special accommodations to complete the training, please contact your Contract Manager.
HIPAA Information and Action
- This course has been developed to inform employees and contractors of their responsibilities under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This training is required yearly.
- Approximate time to complete the course: 12 minutes.
- NOTE: DCF and APD employees should not use this link as it is not tracked. Instead, use the DCF Web Portal to receive proper credit.
- If you have any questions or need special accommodations to complete the training, please contact your Contract Manager.
Service Delivery for the Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing
- The Department ensures that auxiliary aids and services are provided for those customers and companions who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.
Child Care Training
- Learn about child care training, personnel requirements, director credentials and how to register for training classes in your area.
Domestic Violence
- An online tutorial for Domestic Violence Advocates and their communities.
Other Domestic Violence Training Opportunities
- This calendar shows events that are of interest to Domestic Violence Programs and Centers.
ACCESS Program Overview
- This presentation provides an overview of the public assistance programs that the Department administers.
ACCESS Self Service Portal Training (My Account)
This training has been developed to help Customers and Staff in using the new Self Service Portal System.
ACCESS Civil Rights Training â SNAP-ED
- This course has been developed to inform SNAP-Ed Implementing Agency (IA) and SNAP Outreach staff of their rights and responsibilities related to Civil Rights. This course is mandatory for all SNAP-Ed and SNAP Outreach staff who receive funding from the Department. At the end of the course, staff may print and sign their certificate of completion.
- Approximate time to complete the course: 37 minutes
ACCESS Civil Rights Training â Community Partners
- This course has been developed to inform ACCESS Community Partners of their rights and responsibilities related to Civil Rights. This course is mandatory for all ACCESS Community Partners who receive funding from the Department. At the end of the course, partners may print and sign their certificate of completion.
- Approximate time to complete the course: 37 minutes.
Online Email Notification Customer Training
- This course is designed to introduce you to the new paperless process.
- Approximate time to complete the course: 8 minutes.
DCF Provider View Guide
Voters Registration Training for Community Partners
This training has been developed to inform you of the Departmentâs responsibilities as they relate to Voter Registration as well as explain the role Community Partners play in assisting our clients and the Department. If you have any questions please contact your Community Partner Liaison.
Frequently asked questions and answers
Who can adopt?
Most family structures can adopt. This includes singles, married couples, relatives and non-relatives. Interested families should be financially stable.
What types of children are available for adoption?
Most foster children are reunified with their parents or are permanently placed with relatives and never become available for adoption. However, those foster children whose birth parents’ parental rights have been terminated by the courts may be adopted.
The majority of children who are eligible for adoption are between the ages of 8 and 18. While many of these older children 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.
How do I find out about the children available for adoption?
Once you are approved to adopt, a counselor will help you to identify the children whose needs correspond with the strengths of your family and will provide you with their pictures and bios. In addition regular adoption matching events are held to allow adoptive parents to meet the children who are eligible for adoption. You can also visit children available for adoption online by clicking HERE for Broward County and HERE for Palm Beach County
What does it cost to adopt?
It costs nothing to adopt from ChildNet. Related fees, such as attorney’s fees for finalization and mileage during the visitation process, are reimbursable up to $1,000.
How long does it take to adopt?
The process to become an approved adoptive parent includes attending a preparation course, obtaining local, state and federal background checks, and completion of a home study. The home study generally takes about four months. On average, the adoption process can generally be completed in eight months to a year. The main factor affecting the length of time to adopt is if a child that meets the family’s preferred characteristics is available.
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, such as the circumstances involving the child’s removal and the child’s medical history, including the birth and delivery information, any assessments or psychological evaluations, 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 kinds of post-adoption support is available?
Post adoption services are offered to parents who adopt children in care to ensure services, such as medical and mental health services, to continue after a child is adopted. Mental Health services, including individual and family therapy and psychiatric services, are provided through Medicaid and local network providers. Adopted youth are eligible for Medicaid. Most post adoptive services and benefits expire once the child turns 18.
For more information about post adoption services, contact ChildNet’s Post Adoption Specialist in Broward County by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (954) 234-1571 and Children’s Home Society’s Adoption Social Worker in Palm Beach County by phone at 561.868.4321.
Who can I contact to access post-adoption services?
In order to access post adoptive services, contact ChildNet’s Post Adoption Specialist in Broward County by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (954) 234-1571 and Children’s Home Society’s Adoption Social Worker in Palm Beach County by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 561.868.4321.
Are college tuitions waived for adopted children?
Children adopted through ChildNet, are eligible to receive a tuition waiver to attend a four year university or college, a community college and technical school within Florida. Only children adopted through the dependency court system within the state of Florida are eligible for the tuition waiver. Effective July 1, 2010, this exemption remains valid until the young person reaches the age of 28.
Are there local support groups for parents who adopt?
There are post and pre adoptive support groups for families who adopt. The Pre Adoption support group meets the third Thursday of every month, 6:30pm-8pm at Kids In Distress. The Post Adoption group meets the fourth Wednesday of every month, 6pm-8pm at Kids In Distress. Contact Terry Badeaux at (954) 390-7654 ext 1254 for more information about joining a support groups. Babysitting is offered for both group meetings.
Is there a number to call for additional adoption information?
Yes. You may call the ChildNet’s Adoption Hotline in Broward at 954.414.6001 and in Palm Beach County at 561.352.2501 for more information.
