FFTA Announces New Foster 2 Forever Initiative

Over 100,000 children are waiting to be adopted in the USA foster care system. Forever Families Through Adoption, Inc. (FFTA) intends to reduce that number!

Inspired by over 40 years of service in child welfare, the adoption field and community, it is our agency’s goal to unite children in need with their forever families and to keep “harder to place” children out of the state system through permanent and loving domestic adoption. We firmly believe that every child eligible for permanent adoption – regardless of racial or ethnic background, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical, developmental, or emotional challenge – has the right to grow up in a loving and secure forever home!

FFTA also seeks to educate the community about adoption and related parenting issues, and to promote a positive experience for everyone involved through the counseling, education and support we provide to our clients and community.

Our new initiative Foster 2 Forever is open at this time to families interested in adopting children from the United States foster care system that are already freed for permanent adoption (parental rights have been terminated). There are currently over 113,000 children freed in the USA foster care system dreaming about being adopted. We all know that the government does not make for a good family and as Judge Kathie Davidson once said, “One Day in Foster Care is One Day too Many.”

FFTA is authorized to facilitate the New York state mandated National Training and Development Curriculum, (NTDC) for prospective adoptive parents to become approved to adopt freed foster children. This intensive and emotional training program, totaling 30 hours, will help prospective adoptive parents to be prepared to adopt children that may have histories of trauma, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, to no fault of their own!

The families will not only be trained by FFTA facilitators and well prepared to adopt the children they are matched with, but they will also be approved by our agency and New York State standards which consists of a thorough approval process. We understand the extremely difficult journey all parents have ahead of them when adopting older children with a history that sometimes cannot even be put into words. FFTA will be helping these parents to not only put these children’s truths into words, but also help the parents talk about how to help transform the feelings into facts so that the children (and parents), can verbalize their anger as well as their fears, and fantasies, and begin the long healing process together.

FFTA understands that this type of adoption is not for everyone and will be mindful of the “matching” process. On staff and within our Board of Directors we have adoptive parents, foster parents, adoptees, birth parents, attorneys and social workers who will cautiously and protectively monitor each situation and always work in the best interest of the children.

FFTA intends for the new adoptive families to maintain on-going relationships with FFTA and any birth family or foster parents, as well as keeping a "hot line" available for the adoptive parents or adoptees who need post placement support and services.

FFTA intends to provide scholarships for prospective adoptive parents to offset the fees for the NTDC training, manuals, travel, clearances, and any other initial approval expenditures.

We are committed to ensuring that these children find permanent homes and leave the foster care system. They need parents to love and nurture them, for who they are, not to look at their faults or where they came from.

If you have ever thought about adopting an older child or would like to learn more about our agency and the process, please contact us anytime.