INTERVIEW WITH AÂ SOCIAL WORKER
An interview with a social worker at Volunteers for America was conducted but is unable to be published online. Some key points included:
1. Everyone involved in the adoption process experience some form of grief and loss. In order to move forward with a healthy and successful adoption, all parties involved need to recognize this loss and come to terms with it.
2. Foster care and adoption are very different. The goal of foster care is to reunite the child with his or her origin family whereas the purpose of adoption is to unite a child with a new family. There is often a misconception between children who are in foster care and children who are adopted.
3. Open adoptions are not the same as co-parenting. Open adoption allows the child to have a relationship with the birth parent(s) which can help give the child more information and closure about the situation.
​
4. Children born with special needs are still adopted! There are actually adoption agencies dedicated to uniting families with children who were born with disabilities. While Volunteers for America is not one of these special needs agencies, they can still put you in contact with one.