Kentucky Adoption

Guide to Kentucky Adoption If you are considering adopting a child in Kentucky, you may want to know more about the KY adoption process. Generally speaking, Kentucky adoption through the state's foster care system can be quite inexpensive and may take as little as a few months. This guide will explain the steps you will need to take in order to complete a KY adoption, from beginning to end. If you want to adopt through a domestic or international adoption agency rather than through the state foster care system, you may want to contact the agency for their Kentucky adoption procedure. The Kentucky Adoption Process: Inquiry and Application The first step potential adoptive parents must take is applying for their KY adoption. If you are considering a Kentucky adoption, the application must be filled out completely and returned to your local Protection and Permanency Office, which is the office in your area responsible for handling KY adoption. This office will then tell you about the next steps in your Kentucky adoption process, including when the next mandatory information meeting about adoption will be held. The Kentucky Adoption Process: Orientation and Preparation When you attend the mandatory informational session, you will learn more about your Department for Community Based Services, which helps place children with adoptive families. You'll also learn about children waiting for a KY adoption and how the foster care system in Kentucky works to connect children to an appropriate home. Over the next ten weeks, you'll attend ten meetings that cover topics relating to Kentucky adoption, including the special needs of foster and adoptive children as well as adapting your own parenting philosophy to accommodate an adoptive child's needs. You can use these meetings to help decide whether to continue pursuing a KY adoption through the foster care system. The Kentucky Adoption Process: Home Study/Family Profile While you are completing all ten of your preparation meetings (a total of 30 hours of training), you'll be required to complete a home study. This will involve an adoption case worker visiting your home and interviewing you as well as all other members of your household. A profile will be built of you and your family, including complete background checks and a medical history. You will have to respond to many personal questions during the home study. You will be asked about your parenting philosophy, your own childhood and relationship to your parents, and about how you might handle situations that could arise with an adopted child. This is to ensure that the KY adoption process matches families to children who will be suitable for them. The Kentucky Adoption Process: Matching and Placement After you have completed the home study (which is paid by the state when you complete a KY adoption through the foster care system), you will begin the matching process. You will meet with the child you are interested in adopting and, if the visits are successful, the child will be placed in your home. At this point, you can go to family court to finalize your Kentucky adoption.

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