How To: A Guide to Adopting Older Children from Foster Care

When most people think about adopting, they usually consider toddlers or young children. But there are so many older children available for adoption from foster care! These older kids desperately need families and seek the love and stability that only a forever family can provide. Learn more about adopting older children from foster care, what to expect through Kidsave programs, and how to choose the right Kidsave program for you and your family. 

There are a few reasons why there are so many older kids and teens in foster care. For one, most kids don’t enter foster care until they are between 6 and 7 years old. There are also a lot of misconceptions about older kids in foster care. Check out our blog, Busting 5 Common Myths About Adopting an Older Child, to learn more about these misconceptions.

Whether they didn’t enter foster care until they were already older or misconceptions and stigma have kept them in the system, there are thousands of older children available for adoption in the U.S. They are older kids who want and deserve a safe and loving family, but the odds are not in their favor.

You can change the life of an older child in foster care. You can be the person who prevents another older child from aging out of foster care without a family, a home, or a support system.

One of the many great things about Kidsave’s programs is that they are designed to let you ease into things. You decide how involved you want to be, and you are welcome to attend Kidsave events before you have made any commitments. You will be asked to attend an orientation and complete a background check to ensure the safety of the kids in our programs. Once those are completed, you will be able to start attending events and meeting kids to see if hosting with Kidsave is right for you. If you're still on the fence, check out our blog post on Adopting Older Children and what you should know for a unique perspective.

At Kidsave, we have two main programs: Weekend Miracles and Summer Miracles. The biggest difference between the two has to do with where the kids are located. Weekend Miracles is our domestic program where families can connect with older kids in foster care in their local community, and Summer Miracles is our international program where we connect families with older kids in care from Colombia.

Kidsave’s Weekend Miracles programs operate in: 

And through partnerships have operated in:

Even if you live outside of one of our Weekend Miracles areas, you can still participate in our Summer Miracles program. You can participate in Summer Miracles from anywhere in the continental U.S!

Click here to learn more about Summer Miracles.

In this instance, we recommend that you reach out to your local child welfare organization or research to see if there is a nonprofit similar to Kidsave that may operate in your area.

Here are some additional resources for becoming a foster parent outside of Kidsave:

Email: info@kidsave.org