What Are My Options

Foster Care

If you think foster care is a good interim step, we will assist you in locating services that can help with that, while continuing to counsel you until such time as you decide on a permanent plan for your child. Please be aware, however, that once you place your child in foster care, you will no longer be the sole decision-maker over his or her future - the state will also be involved.

It is also important to remember that foster care is just a temporary arrangement for a child who, for some reason, cannot live with his or her birth family. If your child remains in foster care with no plan in place for over a year, the state may file with the court to legally terminate your rights as a parent. Once that happens, your child will be available for adoption, and the state – and not you – will make the decision as to who gets to adopt him. While awaiting adoption, your child will continue in foster care, and he or she may face the real possibility that, as a no-longer-newborn, no one will step forward to adopt him. To hear the story of one child’s foster care experience, read the story about Three Little Words: A Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter.

For more information on Foster Care, you can contact the New York State Office of Children & Family Services at 1-800-345-KIDS or read more at Foster Care - New York State Office of Children & Family Services . The New York State Citizens’ Coalition for Children also provides guidance for those who are considering foster parenting , as well as state, regional and national statistics and research on adoption and foster care.