Adoption from Foster Care
Providing loving homes and forever families.

• Attend information meeting - 2nd Monday of every month
• Fill out an application
• Schedule interviews with our staff both at your home and our offices
• Work with the agency to complete criminal and protective services history checks
• Complete foster parent training

*This is not a complete list of steps to becoming a foster parent. It typically takes about 6 months to be fully licensed. Email us at gro.jsbad@ofnitnerapretsof with additional questions. 

The State of Michigan does not require that all Adoptive Families become licensed foster parents; however, it is necessary for many children.

• The children and families’ transition to adoption is smoother when families foster their intended children first. 
• When a child first moves into the home for foster care, the child brings a higher level of support and services with him/her. 
• Children age 14 and older are legally required to consent to their own adoptions and they need time with their families before they consent to adoption.
• When children cannot return home to their birth parents, it is better for them to be adopted by their foster parents to avoid unnecessary moves and losses later on.
• The majority of adoption workers assigned to waiting children on MARE will only consider pre-adoptive families that are licensed.
• When a family that wants to adopt is already licensed, it allows the child to move to the home sooner.  This avoids the need for interim placements, thus reducing the number of moves for children.

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Provide a safe, clean, loving, and secure home
• Monitor the child’s schoolwork
• Coordinate with the child’s social worker for visits with the child’s parents and provide or arrange transportation to counseling appointments, if needed
• Become educated and trauma-informed to provide the best care and help the child to get the services they need to thrive
• Be committed to the child in your care and ensuring that they feel safe, secure, and accepted every day

D.A. Blodgett - St. John’s provides all the training and assessment services in order to become licensed at no charge.

Pressley Ridge is the main training you will complete. The Pressley Ridge training sessions help to rebuild communities and families who are facing difficult challenges and complex situations. The ultimate goal is to prevent or reduce a child’s trauma by ensuring they are safe and well cared for by a well-trained foster parent.

View Trainings

No. You may rent. Your home must be clean, safe and must always have a phone. Children of the opposite sex five years of age and older may not share a bedroom.

We accept individuals and families regardless of marital status, sexual orientation, or family structure.  We have licensed families that are first-time parents and experienced parents, working parents, and stay-at-home parents. All families are welcome at DABSJ.

Children adopted from the foster care system often qualify for Adoption Assistance/Subsidy. Adoption Assistance/Subsidy provides financial support to the family after adoption (and generally until age 18) that is based on the child’s special needs and on the additional efforts of the parents to meet those special needs.

Ongoing Medicaid is part of Adoption Assistance/Subsidy. D. A. Blodgett – St. John’s Adoption Specialists complete the Adoption Assistance/Subsidy application process on behalf of adoptive families.