FAQ Library

Foster care differs from adoption in a few ways.

• A foster parent assumes care and responsibility for the foster child, but the State maintains all legal guardianship of the child. Adoption transfers legal responsibility and care over to the adopting parents.
• A foster parent’s primary role is to help in efforts to reunite the child with their birth family. This may include visits between the child and birth parents, taking a child to counseling, and working closely with the foster care worker.
• Sometimes, a child is unable to return home; it is then that the court terminates parental rights and the child becomes available for adoption. Adoptive parents become the child’s legal parent agreeing to a lifelong commitment and responsibility no less important than if the child was born to them.
• Interested in adoption? Visit the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange to learn more!

It is important to remember that children in foster care have the same needs as children who live in a stable family environment. They are placed in foster care based on the actions or inactions of the adults, not because of something that they did wrong or because of bad behavior.

However, it is important to realize that children in foster care have had traumatic past experiences that may include physical, sexual, or emotional abuse and/or neglect. Others may have been drug and/or alcohol exposed. Most children in foster care have some level of special emotional, cognitive, learning, physical, health or developmental need based on these traumatic experiences. All of these children have experienced the grief and loss of having been separated from their families.

Your agency will ask you about the types of children for whom you are willing to care. The agency’s final recommendation will be based on your preferences and the agency’s assessment of your skills and abilities. Ongoing training opportunities are offered to foster parents to increase the knowledge and skills needed to meet the needs of the children placed in their home.

Because foster care is considered to be a temporary placement, not every child that comes into your home will be eligible for adoption. A foster parent is expected to work with the agency and birth parents, in the hopes that the family will be reunited. A foster parent must be objective, and must be able to assist a child if and when it comes time for that child to leave the foster home. Sometimes, however, children are unable to return home. If parental rights are terminated, relatives and foster parents are given consideration for adoption.

“Foster-to-adopt” means families become foster parents with the hope and intent that they will adopt a foster child that comes into their home. In Michigan, we call this same process “dual licensing.” Families complete the foster care licensing requirements and the adoption requirements at the same time. It saves time and reduces duplicate paperwork. It is also beneficial to children whose parental rights are terminated because they won’t move as often.

American Indian and Alaska Native people or families interested in becoming licensed for foster care or adoption should contact 1-855-MICHKIDS (1-855-642-4543) 

In the meantime, it may be helpful to gain a general understanding of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA):

Enacted in 1978, "ICWA sets federal requirements that apply to state child custody proceedings involving an Indian child who is a member of or eligible for membership in a federally recognized tribe.

At the time, not only was ICWA vitally needed, but it was crafted to address some of the most longstanding and egregious removal practices specifically targeting Native children. Among its added protections for Native children, ICWA requires caseworkers to make several considerations when handling an ICWA case, including:

1. Providing active efforts to the family;
2. Identifying a placement that fits under the ICWA preference provisions;
3. Notifying the child’s tribe and the child’s parents of the child custody proceeding; and
4. Working actively to involve the child’s tribe and the child’s parents in the proceedings."

For more information, visit the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) website HERE. For more information on ICWA specifically, head straight to NICWA's ICWA page HERE.

To view the four video series entitled "The Heart of ICWA" by the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA), click HERE. This video series highlights the experiences of families and individuals and how ICWA and foster care have impacted their lives.

You don’t have to be married to adopt or foster a child or children. Many children will thrive in a single parent home. Only one parent of a non married couple can legally adopt a child in Michigan.

You don’t have to own your own home to adopt or foster a child. A rented house or apartment is fine, as long as there is adequate bedroom space per child. The home must be free from health and fire hazards, and must have a safe play area for children.

You do not need to give up your job and stay home full time in order to foster children. Foster parents are eligible for day care payments for the time that they are working or continuing their education.

You do not have to be rich to adopt or be a foster parent. Even if you receive some type of financial assistance, you are still eligible to adopt or provide foster care as long as you have adequate financial resources to provide for your family and the additional children you with to bring into your home.

The home study (also called a family assessment) is done by a social worker at a licensed child placing agency, and typically takes at least six months to complete. The home study consists of a series of meetings between the family and the licensing worker, with at least one meeting occurring in the family’s home. It provides an educational opportunity for the family to learn more and seriously consider their motivations and expectations for foster care. It also gives the licensing worker a chance to get to know the family.

There are no guarantees that a child will be placed into your home. Becoming a licensed foster home merely makes the placement of a child possible. Having a child placed is dependent on the “types” of children needing foster care, the availability of homes in the community, and on the placement specifications for each foster home. The time frame for placement of a child in a newly licensed home varies widely and is dependent on many factors. Your agency will contact you about any possible placement of a child or children in your home. You will have the opportunity to discuss the known needs of the child with the agency prior to the child’s placement in your home and to decide whether you are willing and able to meet their needs. Foster parents are not required to take any child into their home at any time.

There is financial assistance available for those who provide foster care. Foster care payments are not meant to cover all expenses incurred in raising a child; rather, these payments are meant to help offset some of the cost. Foster parents are given a modest initial and semiannual clothing allowance as well as a holiday allowance for youth placed in the home. The amount paid is dependent on the needs of the child, not the family. The amount is set by the state agency responsible for the child’s care. Children in foster care are also eligible for dental, medical and vision coverage through Medicaid, daycare subsidies, free school meals, WIC, high school graduation and prom expenses and tuition assistance for older youth. Eligibility for these and many other supportive services for families caring for youth in foster care are not based on the foster parents’ income.