By THERESA DAVIS
Like many other families, foster/adoptive families have had to make drastic changes these past few months. They have had to navigate things like visitations, check-ins from the social worker and family court appearances – all within the confines of the changing Coronavirus restrictions.
Many things, such as finalizing adoptions, have been done via video chat platforms. Social distancing is practiced and PPE is used when in-person meetings are necessary. The difficulty in this approach is, of course, accessibility to appropriate devices and the Internet, in addition to keeping children’s and families’ rights at the forefront as much as possible.
Overseas adoptions have been greatly affected. Traveling while social distancing and travel bans have played havoc with finalizing adoptions and bringing children home. Again, all of this is being done in observance of protocols and laws for both countries.
There has been a lot of “rethinking” in our state. When this health crisis ends, where does fostering/adoption go from here? Will these processes be changed as well? Is it possible that most of the fostering and adoption processes will remain on virtual platforms? Or are the old practices best? Is it possible to combine the two to make the fostering and adoption processes smoother?
In the end, only time will tell, but for now it seems with everything else, we are still left with more questions than answers.
Theresa Davis is a former early childhood educator and has worked in childcare centers for more than 15 years. She is also an adoptive mother, living and taking care of her family in the Capital District.
