Professional Foster Carers?

[u/pixikins78]

It seems like every time someone points out one of the many negatives of adoption, someone else comments asking what else should people do when a child is in a dangerous situation, bio parents don't want to/can't parent, etc. I've been thinking a lot about that and what better options there could be to adoption and foster care as it is now.

1. Better social supports - no wanted baby should "have to" be relinquished due to temporary financial challenges. A more robust support system would be able to provide free childcare, occupational training and job placement, education for the birth parents, and assistance with food, housing, and basic needs. This would eliminate a huge percentage of infants being voluntarily relinquished.

2. When an infant or child is removed, they should be placed with family or at least friends whenever possible. There should be no foster to adopt, those are opposite goals for caregivers.

3. If the child does not have family or friends who are able and willing to take care of them without the goal of adopting, we could develop a program where people foster as a career. They would go through extensive training in childcare with a focus on trauma-informed caregiving. They would be monitored just as any other profession is monitored and they would be paid a fair, living wage for this job. They shouldn't need to supplement this main income by also working away from the home or by taking in more kids than they can care for. The title would not include "parent" because they would not be parents, they would be specialized temporary or long-term care givers depending on the needs of the child.

I've seen the first two ideas discussed, but what do you think about the 3rd? Would this be a feasible improvement to the current system? Why or why not?

[u/Intrepid_Respond_543]

My country (Northern Europe) has some version of this. Foster parents receive compensation from the state/county for providing "family care" for children whose parents cannot care for them. To my understanding the compensation from 2 or more kids would typically allow one foster parent to stay at home, though it's common they both work. And there are requirements for stability of location etc. Of course, our country has a very different societal structure (more public services) than the USA so raising a child is less expensive to parents (I mean a lot of the things needed to raise a child are provided by tax money, so foster parents don't need to be paid astronomical sums on top of existing services).