How can i adopt a refugee child

Refugee Foster Care | Bethany

Two ways to help children entering the U.S. unaccompanied by a parent or guardian

Refugee children in crisis

Every day, over 40,000 families around the world are forced to flee their homes due to community violence, war, famine, natural disasters, and persecution.

Along the way, refugee families are sometimes separated due to death, illness, or imprisonment. When family reunification is not possible, the best option is to be cared for by a foster care family.

Foster families provide a home for children who have often been separated from their families for years.

FAQs about long-term refugee foster care

Where does Bethany offer long-term refugee and immigrant foster care?
Who are the refugee children Bethany serves?
Do I have to speak the same language as my foster kids?
Does Bethany need more long-term foster families??
Can I adopt a refugee child?
How do the children come to the United States without parents?
What are some of the challenges kids face even after they are in foster care?
Is the training to be a long-term refugee foster parent the same as traditional foster care training?
What are the major steps to becoming a foster parent?
Do I need to be married? Can I have kids?
What are the core qualities a foster parent should have?
What support does Bethany provide for foster parents?

Where does Bethany offer long-term refugee and immigrant foster care?

We currently offer this program in the following areas:

Grand Rapids, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Traverse City, Michigan
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Northern California

Who are the refugee children Bethany serves?

Most of the children come from Central America, Asia, Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. They are between 13–17 years old, although most are 15 or older. Many have lived in refugee camps for many years.

Do I have to speak the same language as my foster kids?

No. While bilingual parents make fantastic foster parents, it’s not required that you speak the same language as the children in your care. One of the biggest joys and challenges of refugee foster care is learning to connect with children from a different culture and language than your own. We provide specialized training and ongoing support to help refugee foster parents build bridges of understanding between themselves and the children in their care. This support includes access to translators and interpreters, as needed.

Does Bethany need more long-term foster families??

Yes. Bethany receives referrals each day for refugee children who need foster homes. We don’t have enough foster parents to accept all of these referrals. We need foster parents who are willing to open their hearts and homes to give kids an opportunity for a better life.

Can I adopt a refugee child?

Unaccompanied refugee minors are not legally eligible for adoption. However, many refugee foster parents develop deep connections with refugee children they’ve cared for in their homes, considering them part of the family.

What are some of the challenges kids face even after they are in foster care?

Education. Many of these kids have spent months fleeing and have lived in chaotic environments where educational opportunities were inconsistent or unavailable. They need foster parents who, along with their case manager, are willing to identify the educational services these kids need and help them with their homework as they begin to make up for the years of education they missed.

Trauma. Refugee children have experienced incredible levels of trauma. Some have seen their parents, family members, and friends lose their lives. These children need foster parents who will help them feel safe, loved, and supported.

Is the training to be a long-term refugee foster parent the same as traditional foster care training?

Most of the training is very similar, but you'll experience additional, in-depth trauma training. We begin with two hours of orientation followed by 30 hours of training over five weeks.

During this training, youth and foster parents may share their story. Hearing these stories puts all the information in context and helps you realize the difference you can make in a young person’s life.

What are the major steps to becoming a foster parent?

Attend a free information meeting.
Get certified.
Receive training to support your foster child, including trauma training.
Placement occurs when you welcome a child into your home.
On-going support is available to help you through it all.
Successfully parent your foster child into adulthood.

Do I need to be married? Can I have kids?

Foster parents can be single or married. Many are already raising children. Some have never parented children before.

What are the core qualities a foster parent should have?

You need to be resilient, compassionate, and a good listener. You’ll be dealing with teens, trauma, and cultural differences. You’ll need to be patient and understanding as you help teens adjust to potentially unrealistic expectations of “life in America.” You'll also need a sense of humor as you enjoy the experience of welcoming a child from another culture into your family!

What support does Bethany provide for foster parents?

You’ll receive a support team composed of a licensing specialist, case manager, therapists, and more. We want every placement to be successful for both the family and the child, so we’ll work together to give you the support you need.

Long-term goals for refugee youth

As refugee youth work to heal from past trauma, they pursue goals of learning English, getting an education, and preparing for a future of independence.

It's important to understand the trauma and losses many refugee children have lived through, and how you can help support them as they heal and rebuild their lives.

Partnering to care for refugee youth

What is the cost of long-term refugee and immigrant foster care?

Foster parents receive a monthly, tax-free stipend. While it varies by state, most foster parents report it covers necessary expenses like food, clothing and school supplies. Foster children will receive Medicaid or another form of health insurance.

You will still discover additional out-of-pocket costs, which is why we recommend foster parents seek community resources and family support.

Remarkable stories of courage and resilience

Ready to take a next step?

Contact Us

We'll connect you with a specialist to talk about whether long-term refugee and immigrant foster care is right for you.

Attend a meeting

Information is power. When you attend a meeting in your area, you'll dive in deep, ask questions, and discover if refugee foster care is right for you.

Find a Meeting

Adopt a Refugee Child | Adoption.com

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that, in 2018, a record of 70.8 million people were forced to flee their homes and communities. This number exceeds the number of displaced persons during World War II and is double the number of displaced persons from a mere 20 years ago. All over the globe from Syria to South Sudan, Venezuela to Somalia, people have fled due to war, poverty, and a changing climate. Some crossing borders, others residing in makeshift camps far from their cities of origin, all whose futures are unknown.

What Is a Refugee?

Though there are millions of displaced persons worldwide, not all of these people are refugees. A refugee is defined as someone who has been forced to flee their country due to a threat of violence or persecution. Reasons for persecution might include religious beliefs, political affiliation, race, nationality, or membership of a particular social or ethnic group. The difference between a refugee, an internally displaced person (also known as IDP), and someone who flees their country due to famine, poverty, or natural disaster is that refugees have a legal status within the international community while IDPs and others who flee their countries do not.

Refugees were first recognized in the aftermath of World War I, though it was not until the Geneva Convention of 1951 that a formal document was written to outline the legal protection and rights of a refugee. It is widely recognized that every country should be responsible for the protection and well-being of its citizens. But in the case of refugees, such protection is not guaranteed (particularly since, in many cases, refugees’ own governments are their persecutors). This is why the international community has a duty to ensure that those individuals classified as refugees remain safe and protected. Though the original 1951 Geneva Convention was very European-focused, due to the aftermath of World War I and World War II, in 1967, the document was expanded to all countries. To date, approximately 145 countries have signed the 1967 Protocol.

UNHCR (also known as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) lists that 67 percent of all refugees come from five countries: Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Myanmar. Of the millions of refugees recorded in 2018, over half are children under the age of 18. The number is slightly higher if one considers the 3.5 million asylum seekers whose refugee status has yet to be confirmed. Though refugees are welcomed into many countries, the top hosting countries of 2019 are Germany, Sudan, Uganda, Pakistan, and Turkey. It is estimated that most of the refugees live in countries that are near to their country of origin, which they fled.

UNICEF (also known as the United Nations Children’s Fund) reports that one in three children living outside their country of origin are refugees. Images of children fleeing war-torn areas only to linger for months, sometimes years, in makeshift refugee camps is a difficult image to process. Children are often the hardest hit during times of violence and unrest. The trauma to children, both physically, psychologically, and emotionally cannot be denied. When viewing such a crisis, the desire to help can be overwhelming. People may think, surely providing a refugee child a warm, stable, welcoming home environment would be better than their current circumstances. One solution might be to adopt a refugee child, but the answer and the process are not that simple.

Is the Child an Orphan?

People are drawn to international adoption for a variety of reasons. Some want the opportunity to welcome another culture into their hearts and homes, others are drawn to the idea of helping a child in need. One of the cornerstones of international adoption, however, is that children available for intercountry adoption are in fact children in need of forever homes. The first thing that must be proven before a child is eligible for adoption is that the child is indeed an orphan. The U.S. Department of State defines an orphan as a child who has no parents or has a sole surviving parent who is unable to care for that child. If there is a sole surviving parent, this parent must, in writing, irrevocably release the child for emigration (to the U.S.) and adoption. To adopt a refugee child, these standards must be met. The difficulty is that refugees are born out of a time of crisis. Families flee because they are forced to do so. Refugees cross counties, cities, and borders because they feel they have no other chance at survival. During the journey, refugee families may become disbanded, some choosing to send their children ahead in advance of themselves. It is not uncommon for a child to make it to an asylum country unaccompanied. It is not that the child is an orphan. The reality is that child, and their family, are merely trying to survive an unspeakable upheaval.

To answer the question of how to adopt a refugee child, in 1995, UNHCR developed a strict policy that in a time of emergency, children are not available for adoption. This is true of both refugees and others who flee due to economic or natural disasters. When the devastating earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, adoption was not possible. Not only was the country in a state of emergency, and thus, it would be impossible to process the children’s adoptions, more importantly, there was no way to tell whether the Haitian children found had parents or not. Likewise, it is, oftentimes, impossible to ascertain if an unaccompanied minor found in an asylum country is indeed an orphan.

In times of crisis, families may become uprooted and their documents lost. This is why the UNHCR allows for a time of at least two years to complete the act of “family tracing. ” During this time, the child is placed in a kind of long-term foster care within their community of fellow refugees. This policy is thought to be in the best interest of the child who has already experienced extensive trauma. To remove the child from their community, even if that community resides within a refugee camp, would cause the child further trauma. Thus, in these circumstances, the U.N. believes it best to keep children where they are until reunification with their parents can occur. In instances when the parents of the child cannot be found, the next step would be to find any other surviving members of the child’s family that might serve as a primary caregiver. If this is not possible, the next step would be to find another refugee family in the child’s immediate community who could serve as the child’s primary caregiver.

Can the Refugee Child Be Adopted?

Per Article 4 of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, of which the U.S. is a signatory, every attempt must be made to place the child in their country of origin before intercountry adoption can be considered. This means that the child in question must have been placed on a centralized adoption list within their country of origin and, despite numerous attempts, no domestic placement was ever made. Then, and only then, would the child be eligible for intercountry adoption?

To adopt a refugee child, every effort must have been made to place that child in a permanent home within their country of origin. But by the very nature of their status as refugees, refugee children have fled their country of origin. Once settled, either permanently or in makeshift camps, refugees fall under the law of their new nation. It would be unethical to return a refugee child to their country of origin, thus, if a refugee child fled Somalia to Turkey, that child would fall under the adoption laws of Turkey.

If one considers the top five refugee countries (Syria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Myanmar) some of those practice Shari’a (Islamic) Law. Combined with the top hosting countries (Germany, Sudan, Uganda, Pakistan, and Turkey), of which some practice Shari’a Law, many refugee children are residing in and/or originate from Shari’a Law practicing countries. This is an important distinction because Shari’a Law does not recognize the adoption of Muslim children by non-practicing Muslims. In Shari’a law, bloodlines are very important as it is through bloodlines that inheritance and patrimony are determined. This is why adoption from countries such as Egypt and Turkey to the United States is nearly impossible. In the United States, we define adoption as giving a child not born unto the adoptive parents “all the rights and privileges as if they were born to them.” This is in direct contrast to Shari’a Law.

Shari’a Law does recognize a form of adoption under the guise of long-term foster care but these matters are handled on the community level and do not occur in a court of law. For emigration to take place in the United States, a formal court of Family Law must have a hearing to rule the orphaned child is eligible to legally become the child of the adoptive parents. Once the family passes court, they are legally bound to one another and the child may be brought to the United States. But because Shari’a Law does not permit, or recognize such Family Court hearings, it is highly unusual for such adoptions, in the U.S. and Hague Convention definition of the word, to occur.

Beyond Shari’a Law, technically, it would be possible to adopt a refugee child if that child was living in Germany or even the United States, but the instances of these occurrences are very rare. For this to happen, the child would have had to emigrate to the United States, entered the U.S. foster care system, been found an orphan, and then adopted from foster care.

What You Can Do

Rather than asking how to adopt a refugee child, the question should be how to support a refugee child. In the 1980s, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began a program called URM. The Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program came about in response to the thousands of children in Southeast Asia who lacked permanent primary caregivers. These refugee children were identified by the United States as being eligible to emigrate and resettle in the U. S. but they needed a primary caregiver. The URM program was designed to enroll these unaccompanied refugee minors into the U.S. foster care system to ensure they received the care and services they needed. Since 1980, 13,000 children have been supported through the URM program. Today, URM has roughly 1,300 refugee minors in foster care and group homes across the United States. URM is not a foster to adopt the program. Rather, it supports unaccompanied minor refugees until reunification with their parents is possible or until another member of the child’s family is identified as a permanent caregiver.

In addition to URM, a few U.S.-based agencies provide refugee foster families. Refugees Northwest is another program that does much of the same work. Like all foster care programs, the goal of these organizations is to provide a safe, nurturing, loving environment to children who have experienced incredible upheaval and trauma. The difference in refugee foster care is that the child in care is from another country so the foster family should try to incorporate that child’s culture and country into the fabric of their family’s lives. Like traditional foster care, foster parents will receive a tax-free stipend (the amount of which is determined by the foster parents’ state of residency), financial support for things like clothing and school supplies for the child, and Medicaid and other insurance for the child.

Another way to get involved is simply to donate to and/or support one of the many organizations that work directly with refugees. UNICEF provides shelter, food, clean drinking water, clothing, access to education, and even toys and games to refugee children. Even a small donation can go a long way to making a difference in a child’s life.

Considering adoption? Let us help you on your journey to creating your forever family. Visit Adoption.org or call 1-800-ADOPT-98.

How to adopt a child from a war zone? – children's rights expert Lyudmila Volynets answers the questions of adoptive parents

“How to adopt a child from a war zone?” - such a question is often received on a free hotline for adoptive parents, working in the "No to orphanhood" program of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. People wishing to adopt, take under guardianship or foster families children from a dangerous territory also apply to the Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center.

According to the experts of "No to orphanhood" and the www.sirotstvy.net portal, during the past 2014 the adoption procedure remained unchanged, but the mechanisms that operated in peacetime stopped during the war. Therefore, many issues related to adoption are really not easy to solve. The portal www.sirotstvy.net turned to Lyudmila Volynets for legal assistance. An expert on the protection of children's rights answered the question of portal users.

· Want to adopt/take custody of a child from Donetsk/Luhansk region whose parents died?

A wide international resonance due to the armed conflict in the East of Ukraine, active diplomatic actions of Ukraine in the international arena cause an increase in the desire on the part of foreign families to adopt a child in Ukraine, as they note, from the ATO zone. There is a growing number of applications and citizens of the Russian Federation who, as a result of the information war, have distorted information about children and adoption in Ukraine.

Can foreigners adopt a child from the ATO zone?

Foreigners (including citizens of the Russian Federation), as before, can adopt a child in Ukraine only by contacting the Ministry of Social Policy and only after 1 year and 2 months have elapsed from the date of documentary evidence of the fact that the child lost his parents (that is, the date of death of the second of the parents ). Therefore, given that many cases of civilian deaths in the ATO zone began in the summer, then children can be adopted by foreigners not earlier than the fall of 2015.

· If an orphan is on the portal www.sirotstvy.net and he was transported to another area, in which area to look for him on the portal?

The place of origin of the child does not change with the change in the place of his stay (stay). Wherever the child is, a referral to get to know him should be issued by the Children's Service of the region where this child acquired the status and is on the primary register.

That is, when it comes to children from Donbass evacuated from the war zone to other regions of Ukraine, you still need to contact the Children's Services of the Donetsk and Luhansk regional state administrations. If the child's profile from the regional register of the database of orphans and children deprived of parental care has already been transferred to the national register, you can contact the Department for the Protection of Children's Rights and Adoption of the Ministry of Social Policy (044 278 40 45).

Can a child from Donetsk/Luhansk region be adopted/taken under guardianship/in PS/DDST now if we live in another region?

There are no prohibitions on family placement of children from Lugansk and Donetsk regions in the legislation. Adoption and placement of children under guardianship has never depended on the regions of residence of children and candidates for adoptive parents, guardians. Guardianship, according to the legislation, is issued either at the place of residence of the guardian, or at the place of residence of the ward. Adoption by law is carried out by the court at the place of residence of the adopted child.

At the same time, it remains undetermined by the Cabinet of Ministers which structure of the executive authorities performs the duties of a body of guardianship and guardianship, to replace the liquidated local executive bodies (they are also guardianship and guardianship bodies) in the territories controlled by Ukraine.

It is precisely because of this that problems may arise in the placement of children from the territories that are now controlled by the militants into families.

Is it possible now to adopt / take custody / in the PS / in the DDST of a child from the Donetsk / Lugansk region if we live in the same regions?

If you live in the territory controlled by Ukraine, and your documents comply with the law, you have the right to adopt or raise a child. To do this, you need to contact the Children's Services in your area of residence.

· If we are migrants and we want to start the process of adoption/custody, etc. now, can we start doing it now, what is needed for this?

Temporarily displaced persons are not limited in any rights. From the moment you are registered as a temporarily displaced person, you need to collect the documents required by law and apply to the Children's Affairs Service at the place where you are registered as a displaced person.

We want to adopt a child from the Donetsk/Luhansk region whose parents died, how to do this, how to find a child, how to draw up documents?

In order to obtain the status of candidate adoptive parents, you need to apply to the Children's Services in your place of residence. And to meet with the child - to the Service for Children of the Donetsk or Luhansk Regional State Administration. It should be taken into account that most of these children are brought up under guardianship in families of relatives.

We are a foster family from the Donetsk region, we have now left for another region, we want to take more children into the family (but the PS is already completely filled with children), we need to create a DDST, in which region this should be done, from which region we can take more children in the family?

About 7 thousand families of guardians with children under their care and more than 500 foster families and family-type orphanages, which were created by the liquidated guardianship and guardianship authorities of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, moved to other regions of Ukraine. Decisions of the liquidated local executive authorities regarding, for example, the appointment of a guardian, the creation and operation of guardianship, foster families and family-type orphanages cannot be changed by any executive authority.

Unfortunately, the Ministry of Social Policy has not yet decided on this extremely important issue - who has the right to change the decision of local executive authorities liquidated by the occupation.

Answering the question, we advise you: You need to apply to the Children's Affairs Service at the place of registration of you as internally displaced persons with a statement about the desire to create a DDST. In the event that local executive authorities make a positive decision, transfer foster children to the status of pupils of the DDST and additionally arrange for children.

· Can we take children from the ATO zone under temporary care?

It is difficult to answer your question, since Ukrainian legislation does not contain the concept of “temporary guardianship”. Children are taken into care either until they reach adulthood or until circumstances arise when the biological parents return to parental duties.

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Can I adopt a refugee child from Ukraine? Where to go?, Irkutsk | question No.

19160266 dated 09.12.2022

A citizen of Ukraine who has reached the age of 18, personally or through an authorized representative, apply for recognition as a refugee in writing (clause 1, article 4 of the Law of 19.02.1993 N 4528-1):

1) to a diplomatic mission or consular office of the Russian Federation, if the applicant is not located on the territory of the Russian Federation;

2) to the border control authority of the FSB at the checkpoint across the State Border of the Russian Federation when crossing it;

3) to the border control authorities of the Federal Security Service or to the territorial body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FMS in case of forced illegal crossing of the State Border of the Russian Federation at a checkpoint or outside the checkpoint across the border within 24 hours from the date of crossing the State Border of the Russian Federation;

4) to the territorial body of the Federal Migration Service at the place of their legal stay on the territory of the Russian Federation (clause 1, article 4 of the Law of 19. 02.1993 N 4528-1).

Information about the members of his family who arrived together with the person, who have not reached the age of 18, is entered in the petition of one of the parents (clause 2, article 4 of the Law of 19.02.1993 N 4528-1).

The application must be completed in Russian. If you do not know the language, the application is filled out by an employee of the FMS, the border control authority of the FSB or the Department of Internal Affairs

(clause 26 of the Administrative Regulations, approved by Order of the FMS of Russia dated 05.12.2007 N 452).

Recognition as refugees of persons who are members of the same family is carried out in respect of each family member who has reached the age of 18 (paragraph 4 of article 3 of the Law of 19.02.1993 N 4528-1).

Step 2.

Obtain a Certificate of Appeal/Notice of Rejection.

Preliminary consideration of the applicant's application:

diplomatic mission or consular office within a month,

territorial body of the FMS of Russia - within five working days from the date of receipt of the application

Based on the results of the preliminary consideration of the application, the FMS body decides to issue a certificate of consideration petition or refusal to consider the petition on the merits.

If a decision is made to refuse consideration of the application on the merits, the FMS body, within three working days from the date of the decision, hands or sends to the applicant a notice indicating the reasons for the refusal and the procedure for appealing the decision, as well as explaining the legal status of the applicant and his family members on the territory of the Russian Federation (clause 39 of the Administrative Regulations).

If a decision is made to issue a certificate on the consideration of the application on the merits, the FMS body issues a certificate of the established form to the applicant.

Upon receipt of the certificate, the applicant transfers his national (civil) passport and (or) other identity documents for storage to the FMS body for the period of consideration of the application on the merits (paragraph 41 of the Administrative Regulations).

Step 3.

Submit an application to the Federal Migration Service for the payment of a one-time cash benefit and for the issuance of a referral to a temporary accommodation center for a stay for the period of consideration of the application on the merits

(clauses 43, 44 of the Administrative Regulations).

Step 4.

The applicant, who received the certificate, and the members of his family who arrived with him:

- must be registered at the place of stay for the period of consideration of the application on the merits;

- undergo a mandatory medical examination in the scope of the requirements of the medical certificate (clause 42 of the Administrative Regulations).

Step 5.

Get a decision on recognition or refusal of recognition as a refugee in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Considers an application on the merits of an applicant who is outside the territory of the Russian Federation, submitted to a diplomatic mission or consular office of the Russian Federation, the FMS of Russia within two months from the date of the decision to issue a certificate.

The decision on recognition as a refugee on the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as a notice of refusal to recognize him as a refugee on the territory of the Russian Federation, is sent to the applicant within three working days from the date of the decision by the FMS body (clauses 4, 10, article 7 of the Law of 19. 02.1993 N 4528-1).

After receiving a notice of refusal to consider an application for recognition as a refugee on the merits or for refusal to recognize as a refugee or for the loss or deprivation of refugee status, a foreign citizen has the right to appeal the decision of the territorial body of the FMS of Russia to a court or to the FMS of Russia

(clause 82 of the Administrative Regulations ).

Step 6.

Obtain a refugee certificate and travel document (if a decision is made to recognize the applicant as a refugee).

An applicant who is in the territory of the Russian Federation is handed a refugee certificate in person. An applicant who is outside the territory of the Russian Federation is handed a refugee certificate after his arrival on the territory of the Russian Federation by the FMS body at the place of registration

(paragraph 55 of the Administrative Regulations).

Upon receipt of a refugee certificate, the national (civil) passport and (or) other documents proving the identity of the applicant recognized as a refugee remain in the FMS at the place of registration for the period of recognition of this applicant as a refugee

(Clause 56 of the Administrative Regulations).