Adoption FAQ

No. Many children will thrive in a single-parent home. If you are unmarried or living with your partner, only one parent may legally adopt. 

No. While you do need to have a legal, taxable source of income within the household, you do not have to earn a set amount to adopt or be a foster parent. Even if you receive some financial assistance, you may still be eligible if you have adequate financial resources to provide for yourself, your family (if you have one), and the additional children you wish to bring into your home. Funding options may also be available to you, and are explained in a later question on this FAQ.

No. A rental is fine if the lease/agreement is in your name and there is adequate bedroom space per child, as required by state policy. The property must also be free from health and fire hazards and provide a safe living environment. 

You must be at least 18 years old to adopt or foster in Michigan. There are no upper age limits for adoption. Still, the general state guideline is that there can be no more than a 50-year difference between the youngest parent and child. However, this requirement can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Michigan has three Adoption Subsidy programs to assist families who adopt eligible children. These programs provide financial assistance for the costs of the adoption process and raising the child. An Adoption Support Subsidy offers a monthly payment for support until the child reaches at least 18 years of age. The application, eligibility determination, and signing of the contract should happen before the Petition for Adoption is submitted.  The Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office (AGAO) must approve adoption assistance before an adoption is finalized; it cannot be added after finalization.

The Adoption Medical Subsidy program can help with certain costs related to a child’s physical, mental, or emotional health. To qualify, the condition's cause must have existed before adoption. Additionally, the expenses must not already be covered by Medicaid or private insurance. If your child is approved, Adoption Medical Subsidy may be used after those other insurance options have been exhausted. You can apply for Adoption Medical Subsidy at the time of adoption or after finalization, up to age 18. Additional diagnoses may also be added as the child gets older. If approved, it may also help cover some expenses parents may not expect, like camp, tutoring, orthodontics, and respite. It is essential to contact the AGAO office to follow the proper eligibility and reimbursement procedures.

The Nonrecurring Adoption Expenses program provides up to $2,000 reimbursement to adoptive parents for specific expenses of adopting an eligible child. These expenses include items like a birth certificate, court costs, Adoptive Family Assessment, travel, and more.  

All parents adopting from Michigan’s child welfare system may apply for these programs. Financial assistance is also available for those who provide foster care or enter into guardianship for a child who has been in the state’s care. For more information, talk with your foster care or adoption worker, speak to your local DHS office, or contact the Adoption and Guardianship Assistance Office.

Children will also be eligible to keep their Medicaid, and families adopting a child from Michigan foster care may qualify for a federal tax credit.

Yes. MARE’s adoption agency list also identifies affirming agencies in our state. Contact an Adoption Navigator for more details. 

Yes. The pre-adoptive parent or parents should be prepared to visit the child in Michigan for at least an initial meeting and visit, and perhaps even for an extended stay. For more information on adopting as an out-of-state or military family, please get in touch with an Adoption Navigator for further assistance.

Foster care differs from adoption in a few key ways:

• The primary goal of foster care is to reunify a child with their birth parent or parents.  A foster parent temporarily assumes care and responsibility for a foster child while working on this goal, and the State of Michigan maintains all legal guardianship of the child. Adoption permanently transfers legal responsibility and care to the adoptive parent or parents.
• A foster parent’s primary role is to help in efforts to reunite a child with their birth family. Doing so may include visits between the child and birth parents, taking a child to counseling, and working closely with the foster care worker.
• If a child in foster care is unable to return to their birth family, a judge terminates parental rights and the child becomes available for adoption. An adoptive parent, or parents, can then become the child’s legal parent and agree to responsibility for the child as well as a lifelong commitment to the child, just as they would for a biological child.
• An agency grants adoption approval for children from foster care, and a court will finalize the adoption. The State of Michigan approves a foster care license.  

You can talk directly with Foster Care Navigators, who are foster parents themselves, by calling 1-855-642-4543. They can answer questions, provide information, and connect you with a local agency. You can also visit their website for more details. 

Two additional sources for information are the Michigan Foster Care Portal and MDHHS's foster care webpage.

The homestudy, also called an Adoptive Family Assessment, is a written evaluation of you and your family, if you have one. It includes topics such as your living situation, health, financial stability, and other relevant factors.  A worker from a child-placing agency completes it after having a series of discussions to get to know you. The evaluation process also provides you with the opportunity to learn more about adoption and seriously consider your motivations and expectations of adoption.  

During the process, you will complete interviews with the worker, fingerprinting, a background check, and a physical with your doctor, among other tasks. You will also be required to provide three references from non-related people. There will be at least one in-home visit with your worker as well. While the home study process is in-depth and can seem intimidating at first, it helps thoroughly evaluate your capability to parent a child. It also helps determine details about which types of children you would be a good fit for adopting, such as different age ranges or functioning levels.

There is no specific timeframe, and the amount of time to complete the process can vary. On average, it takes 6-12 months. The approval process includes orientation, adoption application, state-required training, and the homestudy.

Once your home study is approved, you may start inquiring on waiting children on the MARE website. Your adoption worker will share information about your family, including your homestudy, with the child’s worker. The child’s worker typically gathers information on multiple families simultaneously to identify one that best meets the child’s needs. Once a family is selected, the child’s worker will share in-depth, detailed information with the family’s adoption worker through the Child Adoptive Assessment (CAA). This document contains information such as how the child came into foster care, how long the child has been in care, how many placements the child has had, and any diagnoses the child might have. You can then decide if you’d like to proceed with adoption.  

Please note that MARE is not involved in the decision-making or the family notification process with inquiries. Our website provides a way for workers serving children and families to connect, respond to inquiries, and share information. Your adoption worker will be the person contacting you about the status of your inquiries. 

There is no set timetable. First, visitation with the child takes place in a way that the adoption workers determine is best for the child and you. Visits often take place in the community or at a child’s residential facility at first. Next, in-home visits occur. They can last for an afternoon, overnight, a weekend, or an extended period. It is up to the adoption team to decide the timetables for both visits and the move into the family home. If you are a licensed foster parent, a child may be able to visit and move in sooner. Once the child transitions into your home, they are typically there for 6 months, sometimes longer, before the adoption is finalized. 

Most children in foster care who become eligible for adoption are adopted by their foster parents or relatives. A foster care license is not a state requirement to adopt, though many agencies recommend licensing as part of their adoption approval process. It also helps an adoption worker have confidence that you have been approved for foster care and may provide increased flexibility when transitioning a child into your home. Remember, a child’s transition plan is always based upon their needs and best interests. Being licensed allows you to receive assistance payments once a child is placed with you as well.

It simply refers to children who qualify for Adoption Assistance payments after adoption finalization. It should not be confused with children who have disabilities or who receive special education services.

To be considered a special needs adoption, the child must meet at least 1 of the following criteria:

• Being eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) based solely on medical or disability requirements
• Having a physical, emotional, or cognitive functioning level that results in an MDHHS Determination of Care (DOC) Level II or above, a Medically Fragile DOC Level II or above, or a Severe Emotional Disturbance Waiver (SEDW) rate
• Being age three or over
• Being adopted by a relative
• Being adopted by the parent/s a previously adopted sibling
• Being a member of a sibling group that is being adopted together with at least one sibling who meets the above criteria
• Having a Guardianship Assistance Agreement through MDHHS at the time the Adoption Assistance application is submitted

Imagine being a teenager grappling with adolescence, entering adulthood, and facing independence all alone. It is the reality facing thousands of teens who are close to aging out of foster care every year. These teens need support, guidance, and family both now and for the rest of their lives. There are several benefits to adopting a teen, and many significant milestones you can still share with them, too!

In Michigan, most children in foster care who are unable to be reunified with their birth families are adopted by their foster parents or relatives, and a large percentage of those children are under 5 years old.  Many are also part of a sibling group with older children and need to be placed together. Therefore, many of the children who do not yet have an identified adoptive family are older.  

There are far more older children available to adopt from child welfare than infants. If an infant is unable to be reunified with their birth parents, they are most often placed with a relative or foster family who will likely be offered the opportunity to adopt them. Infants are not photolisted on MARE.

Children in the foster care system have already experienced a great deal of grief and loss. They have been removed from their parents, their friends, their extended family, and their homes. Often, they have also lost their school, neighborhood, friends, pets, toys, and clothes.  In many cases, the only connection they still have is to their brothers and sisters. Michigan’s policy is to act in the best interests of the children, so siblings are often placed together unless there is an important reason to separate them.  If siblings cannot be placed together with a family, sibling contact may still be encouraged if appropriate. 

When the parental rights for a child are terminated, the child becomes a permanent ward of the State of Michigan and is available for adoption. The child’s adoption worker then has 60 days to find a forever family for the child, which may include a relative, a foster parent who wants to adopt them, or a pre-adoptive family working with the agency. If the worker can't find a family, they are required to develop a recruitment plan for the child and photolist them on MARE’s website.