CK Foster Care & Adoption Program

We are thrilled to learn you are interested in learning about our foster care and adoption services program.  Take as much time as you need. If you still have questions give us a call or send us a message and our experienced staff will be happy to help you find answers.

Foster Care

Foster parents provide safe and loving homes for children who have been abused and neglected while the biological family is not able to care for them.

Adoption

When a child is in need of a permanent and loving home, CK Families offer the most outstanding forever families for children coming from hard places.

Adoption & Foster Care

Frequently referred to as “foster to adopt” or “dual licensed”, many families decide to become licensed to provide foster care and verified to adopt children.

Fostering Connections

Families with a child in kinship care may become approved as foster and/or adoptive parents in order to receive benefits for the children in their care. CK welcomes kinship providers to join in our verification process.

Adoption & Foster Care FAQs

Click here to see the 26 questions we receive most frequently regarding adoptive parenting and foster parenting.

Foster Care

When the state investigates an allegation of abuse and/or neglect a child is found to be unsafe within their family of origin and other relatives and friends (kin) are not immediately available, the state assumes custody of the child and places the child into foster care. Foster families provide temporary care for children while birth families work through a 12-18 month plan with the court in order to regain custody. CK Family Services seeks to partner with families that are able to commit to caring for a child regardless of how long they will need to remain in placement.

The purpose of the CK Family Services foster care program is to provide quality care in a family setting for children and adolescents who cannot remain with their families. The primary mission in our foster care program is to support children and their families of origin in their reunification efforts, whenever possible. Foster parents must work with children to heal their relationships with their birth parents, siblings, family members, peers and others.

At CK, we are committed to finding every child in North Texas a safe, loving and stable home environment. We partner with Child Protective Services (CPS) to ensure the safety of each of the children that come into our care.

We are always looking for dedicated families in North Texas who would be willing to care for these children when their biological families are unable. Foster care is a temporary placement and at CK we aim for every biological family to have the opportunity for reunification. In the event that a child is unable to return home, we work to find the appropriate permanent home for the child.

Foster parenting requires unconditional love to children who most often may have never experience love of any kind and may not know how to accept it. CK staff are dedicated to giving your family all the resources we can to equip you to serve these children to the best of your ability and will be by your side every step of the way.

All of our families must demonstrate financial and emotional stability as we aim to provide the best environment for these children in crisis.

Matched Adoption

Sometimes a child who is placed in foster care is not able to be reunited with their birth family, other relatives or kinship caregivers during the 12-18 month service plan issued by the court.  In these situations the court will typically sever the legal relationship between the child and their biological parents.  While this is usually the case, there are also times when a child’s biological parents will voluntarily relinquish their rights to parent the child.  When either of these scenarios occurs, the child is considered to be legally free for adoption.

Children in foster care who are legally free to be adopted are matched with adoptive families for the purpose of providing a permanent, forever-family for the children. These matches may be made through the foster care process by the foster family who has cared for the family choosing to be add the child to their family permanently, or with families who are matched with children specifically for the purpose of adoption. Adoptive families assume the permanent responsibility for the child, forever, and welcome into their family, permanently.

During the licensing process, CK adoptive families can expect to have a home study written as part of the preparation for deciding what strengths and weaknesses your family possesses that might compliment a child’s specific needs. These may include age, gender, race and physical and mental health. These home studies will be evaluated as our team works with CPS to find an appropriate adoptive family for the child.

Many older children in the foster care system are children whose parents had their parental rights terminated and they don’t have an next-of-kin to adopt them or are willing to adopt them. Our mission is to connect children and families, whether they are related or not. We do this in many ways, including with our Matched Adoption program.

We are actively accepting applications for parents looking to adopt children who are 10 years old and older. With such a need, we are doing our best to step up to the plate and fill that need. Our team offers support for you every step of the way, from training, support groups, advice, and more. We are committed to ensuring children are placed with the right families, and we understand what you are looking for when we place children into your home. One of the benefits of adopting older children is you’ll have a chance to meet them ahead of time. This can calm a lot of worries and anxiety on your end and the child’s. If you are interested in our Matched Adoption program, we’d love to hear from you. One of our staff members can answer any questions you may have and get the process started. Connect today.

Foster & Adoption

When a child is unable to return home to their biological family, their foster family will have the opportunity to adopt them as apart of theirs. This is a beautiful opportunity for a family to offer a child a forever family.

The termination of parental rights and the legal process of adoption are complex procedures. In 2014, children spent an average of 12 months in foster care between the time when parental rights were terminated and their adoption.

It’s important to recognize that when considering fostering a child and adopting, the adoption can’t be finalized until the child’s birth parents rights have been identified, notified of their legal rights, given an opportunity to participate in the court process, and the terminations of parental rights (TPR) process is completed.

Our agency, offers dual licensing which means that you will be certified to foster and adopt if you choose to do so.

Each of our CK families are assigned a caseworker who will ensure that each child’s needs and rights to safety, permanency and well-being are met. It is important to be flexible and set realistic hopes and expectations for you and your family during this process, including after the adoption has been finalized. CK offers a variety of post adoptive resources to help with learning, medical, behavioral or emotional challenges that a child might experience during this transition.

Fostering Connections

What is a Kinship Caregiver?

Kinship & Fictive Kinship Caregivers are families that have been approved by CPS and the courts to care for a child for whom they have an established relationship.  While Kinship Care approval requires background checks and an assessment, the process is not dictated by law and may vary by county and court.  Additionally, CPS staff offer supports for families, but there are no ongoing financial reimbursements or regulated case management services plan.

In 2008, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act was signed into law.  Through Fostering Connections, Kinship Caregivers may complete ALL of the steps required for Foster Care and/or Adoption verification and begin to receive the same benefits upon verification and formal placement of the kinship children into foster care and/or adoption with the family. This is possible even if the case plan is still aimed toward reunification.

If you are providing Kinship Care and are interested in learning more about how you and the children in your care can benefit from Fostering Connections, please contact us today and we can help you receive these services.

Final Outcome Options for Kinship Caregivers

A major intent of Fostering Connections is to aid children in state custody in finding permanent placements.  Kinship Caregivers often begin caring for children early in a case when it is still possible for the children to be reunified with the person(s) from whom they were removed.  If the children will not be able to be returned, Adoption or Permanent Managing Conservatorship are usually offered as a final permanency outcome.  These outcomes allow CPS to close the case, once completed, and allows the family the normalcy of family life without ongoing involvement from the state.  For more information about Adoption and Permanent Managing Conservatorship, check out this link: Adoption & Permanent Managing Conservatorship.

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