Pre-Adoption Foster Care

Also known as "transitional foster care" and "cradle care," this kind of placement is generally for infants. The babies may need adoption but for some reason there is no family available at the moment; there may be a period of time before placement in the adoptive family while parental rights are terminated; babies may also be placed in transitional care while birthparents, who may need more time, make a final decision on an adoption placement.

Families may be contracted with private agencies or attorneys to fill this role. Pre-adoption placements can be made immediately after birth and straight from the hospital. For tiny, healthy babies it may simply be a couple of weeks or months. But if there are suspicions of mental or physical problems, the wait before placement may be significantly longer, until the diagnosis has been made and a special adoptive family is found. The amount of contact with birthfamily members will depend on individual arrangements.

Credits: This article includes materials prepared by Roger R. Fenton