Private vs State Adoptions

I have been asked a couple of times the difference between private adoption and state adoption.  For the sake of this discussion we will leave out international adoption.

Private adoption
Private adoption can happen through an agency or a lawyer.  The majority of the time it is for a child that is not born yet or is very young.  The key to private adoption is that the birth mom and/or dad is the one who is choosing to place their child for adoption.  No laws have been broken, they haven't done anything wrong.  For whatever reasons, they feel like it is in the best interest of the child to be placed for adoption.  The birth mom and/or dad often chooses the family they want to parent their child and works with the agency or lawyer to make an adoption plan.  The birth parents are the ones driving this process and they get to make all the decisions.  A social worker or lawyer is there to help guide them and navigate the process.

It is not very common to have an older child placed for private adoption.  I don't know how to say this in a politically correct way - so forgive me.  But parents don't wake up one day and say, "I think I will put my 7 year old up for adoption".  Sadly, the more common scenario is if a parent is having trouble they turn to abuse or neglect as coping mechanism.

State adoption
State adoptions happen through DHS (Department of Human Services).  There are two parts to state adoptions.  The first is foster care and the second is adoption.  So let's start at the beginning, this is a complicated subject and the hard part is each case is different.  I will try to give you the most common situation.  First, a call is made to DHS or CPS (child protective services).  A report is made by someone (teacher, neighbor, friend) that abuse or neglect is suspected to be going on in a family.  A case worker is assigned to the report and they follow up and investigate.  If abuse or neglect is found, the children will be removed from the home and placed in foster care.  A child might be in a foster home for a couple of days or years, each situation is different.  A social workers is assigned to work with the parents and the goal is rehabilitation.  Let me repeat: THE GOAL OF FOSTER CARE IS ALWAYS REHABILITATION AND REUNIFICATION.  Sometimes the parents get their act together and make the necessary changes to have their kids back in the home.  This process of rehabilitation can go on for years.  I have heard so many stories of parents getting so close to meeting their goals and then they fall back into old habits.  In general (in Arkansas) parents are given two years to show they have made changes.  If after an appropriate amount of time it is deemed that the biological parents are not fit to be parents, their parental rights are terminated.  At this point the child who has been in foster care is now eligible for adoption.  They will remain in the foster care system until a family steps up to adopt them.  Often the family who has been fostering the child will adopt them, but this in not always the case.

The key in state adoptions is the state government has stepped in and terminated the rights of the biological parents.  Therefore the state assumes the responsibility of the child (aka a ward of the state).  The state provides financial support of this child and it is in the best interest of the state to find them a forever home.  This is why it is free to adopt from the state.  Judges, case workers, foster parents, and child advocates are the ones making the decisions for the child.

In private adoption you rarely have and older child placed for adoption, but the opposite is true in state adoptions.  Because the goal of foster care is always rehabilitation and reunification the process can take a long time.  So even if a newborn is placed in foster care just hours or days after birth - it is very likely they will not be available for adoption until they are two years old.  State adoptions are almost always older children and the waiting list for babies is long.

I hope this answers some of your questions.  Please let me know if you would like to know anything else.  Again, I am not an expert at all, I am learning new things all the time about adoption.