If you want to become a foster Georgia parent or wish to adopt the process is somewhat the same. The prospective foster or adoptive parent needs to meet certain established criteria and the assistance of an adoption attorney in Atlanta is invaluable in such cases. The requirements can be summed as the following:
The difference lies in the reasons behind a child being placed in the custody or guardianship of someone else. In foster care, the birth parents of the child are either unable to provide a suitable environment for the healthy development of their child or have some issues which endanger the child. It can be a parent going to jail or a simple case of a divorce gone bad. The State then takes over protection and guardianship until a suitable foster home is found. Foster homes are usually temporary and the rights to the child still belong to the birth parents. In adoption, the complete legal rights are either consensually signed off by the birth parent(s) or are terminated by going to the court. Regardless of the type of adoption, the services of an attorney like Thomas Tebeau to provide legal advice on child custody support is helpful.
Becoming a foster parent is a big responsibility as you will need to provide a conducive and healthy environment to the foster child. It might seem that this is the same with an adoptive parent but there is one major difference and that is the duration. The foster child may spend a couple of days, weeks or even years as the State’s priority is to get the child back with their birth parents. So, if the reason for which the child was first put in foster care is resolved then the child has a good chance of going back to their rightful parents.
Foster parents these days go through a lot of training as compared to adoptive parents the State also pays foster parents for their services. Depending on the type of child they are taking on this can vary. The child might have been a victim of abuse or have been exposed to other factors that might have caused psychological as well as physical issues. In these cases, the foster parent is usually trained to handle such cases and to provide support to children suffering from trauma.
In Georgia’s court of law foster parents also have rights. They can seek legal counsel in cases where their rights have not been met or in cases concerning the child in their foster care. Although all foster parents get attached to the child entrusted in their care sometimes, such cases may arise where a child has been brought back into the foster system or has been put up for adoption. In these situations, they might feel that they are better suited to caring for the child. In these cases, the foster parents can go to court and getting in touch with an adoption attorney Georgia for legal advice on how to proceed can be invaluable.
