What do foster to adopt parents need to know?

General information is available on the PACA fact sheet.

Special issues and risks for prospective adoptive parents for foster children may exist.  Consider the usual circumstances:

• DCS or the foster agency may want the birth parents to agree to termination of parental rights without a contested trial because settlement uses less state resources. 
• The birth parents, the child and DCS all have lawyers on the case well before any conversation about termination of parental rights.  
• The foster parent(s) generally don’t get a lawyer, and can’t get a lawyer at DCS expense, until adoption is the plan for the child.
• The birth parent(s) and the foster parent(s), and if the child is 14 or older, the child, are the people who must sign any PACA, and the foster parents are the people who must make it work. 
• Under these circumstances, foster parents may be pressured to enter into a PACA that offers too much to the birth parents and is not in the child’s best interest. It is reasonable and even advisable for foster parents to want their own lawyer to advise them before they enter into a PACA. For many foster parents, the barrier to obtaining counsel at this point in the process is legal fees. There may be a solution to get at least some private legal advice for no additional cost.
• If a foster parent finds themselves in discussions of a PACA and they want representation, they should call the attorney they intend to have represent them for the adoption finalization, and ask that attorney if they would be willing to include legal advice about the PACA in the fees the attorney will be paid to finalize the adoption. 
• Some lawyers, including Ms. Coppock, include an hour of adoption related legal services in the flat fee paid by the state for adoption finalization. In many cases, an hour of attorney’s time will be sufficient to answer the foster parent’s questions and often sufficient to help work out an acceptable PACA. Be alert to the issue and ask if you need help.

Post Adoption Contact

Effective March 22, 2019, post adoption contracts may be legally enforceable. 

Sample Contract for Post Adoption Contact – Enforceable
Sample Agreement for Post Adoption Contact – Moral Agreement