Most people who search “foster to adopt in Georgia” are asking a question the results never quite answer: if we open our home, will we end up with a child who stays? The honest answer is that foster care and adoption are two different things that sometimes meet. Foster care exists to help families reunify. Adoption happens when reunification is no longer possible. This guide walks through how foster to adopt actually works in Georgia — who qualifies, what it costs, how long it takes, and what it asks of a family hoping for permanence.
The Two Routes to Adopting From Foster Care in Georgia
There is no single foster-to-adopt track in Georgia. There are two doors, and they ask different things of you.
Route one: foster first. You become a licensed foster parent, a child is placed with you, and the case proceeds with reunification as the goal. If the court later determines reunification is not possible and parental rights are terminated, the family the child already lives with is usually considered first for adoption. This is the route most families take. It is also the route that requires the most emotional honesty, because you are caring for a child whose plan is to go home.
Route two: adopt a child who is already legally free. Some children in Georgia’s care have had parental rights terminated and are waiting for a permanent family. Georgia’s photolisting and AdoptUSKids show children whose permanency goal is adoption. AdoptUSKids reports roughly 14,000 children in Georgia’s foster care system, with about 2,740 whose permanency goal is adoption and several hundred currently available and waiting.
The practical difference: route one starts with uncertainty and may end in adoption. Route two starts with a child who needs permanence now, often an older child, a sibling group, or a child with significant medical or developmental needs.
Neither route is better. They are suited to different families, and a good agency will help you figure out which one fits yours. For a window into what route one can look like end-to-end, read the Koehn family’s adoption story.
Who Can Adopt From Foster Care in Georgia
Georgia’s adoption qualifications come from O.C.G.A. § 19-8-3 and are restated in the DFCS Child Welfare Policy Manual. To petition a Georgia court to adopt, you must:
- Be at least 21 years old, or be married and living with your spouse
- Be at least 10 years older than the child (this does not apply to stepparents or relatives)
- Be a Georgia resident at the time the adoption petition is filed
- Be financially, physically, and mentally able to have permanent custody of the child
If you are married, the petition is filed in both spouses’ names.
Two things worth flagging, because outdated versions of these rules are still circulating online. Georgia’s minimum petitioner age was lowered from 25 to 21 effective July 1, 2021. And the old requirement that you live in Georgia for six months before filing was removed in the same amendment — current policy asks that you be a resident at the time of filing.
Foster licensing is a separate assessment from adoption eligibility. Meeting the statutory minimums does not mean you will be approved for a particular child; DFCS evaluates whether a family can meet that specific child’s needs. If you are unsure where you stand, our team can walk you through it — get your eligibility questions answered directly rather than guessing from a website.
What Foster-to-Adopt Costs in Georgia
This is where foster care adoption differs most sharply from private adoption.
Adopting a child from Georgia’s foster care system carries minimal to no cost to the family. There is no agency placement fee. Licensing, home study, and pre-service training are provided at no cost to foster families working with a licensed agency.
Three forms of support may apply:
– Non-recurring adoption assistance. Georgia may reimburse reasonable and necessary adoption expenses — court costs, attorney fees, and related expenses — up to a set maximum per child. – Recurring adoption assistance. For children who meet Georgia’s special-needs definition, a monthly subsidy and Medicaid coverage may continue after finalization. Eligibility and amount are negotiated before the adoption is finalized, not after. – The federal adoption tax credit. Families adopting from foster care may be eligible. Amounts and rules change; confirm the current figure with the IRS or your tax preparer before you count on it.
We are not able to tell you what your family will receive. What we can tell you is that cost is rarely the barrier families expect it to be, and that adoption assistance is negotiated before finalization — which is the single most common thing families learn too late.
The Timeline, Honestly
Families want a number. The number depends on which route you take and on a court calendar nobody controls.
Getting licensed — orientation and information session, letter of intent, onboarding, home study, and pre-service training. Georgia requires pre-service training for all foster parents; at Families 4 Families that training is built on TBRI, or Trust-Based Relational Intervention, an evidence-based trauma-informed model that not every agency provides. Licensing commonly runs three to six months.
Placement — unpredictable. It depends on the ages and needs your home is approved for and on what children in your region need at that moment.
The case — this is the long stretch. Reunification efforts run their course. Permanency hearings happen on a schedule set by the court. A case may move toward termination of parental rights, or it may not.
Petition to finalization — once a child is legally free and your family is selected, the petition, post-placement supervision, and final decree follow.
Anyone quoting you a firm total is guessing. What an agency can honestly promise is that someone will explain each stage as you reach it.
What Reunification Means for a Family Hoping to Adopt
Here is the part most foster-to-adopt pages skip.
The goal of foster care is to help a child’s family become safe enough for that child to go home. Most children who enter foster care do go home — to parents, to grandparents, to an aunt. When that happens, it is not a failed placement. It is the system working — here is a longer look at why reunification builds stronger families.
A family that enters foster care hoping to adopt has to hold two things at once: real hope for permanence, and real support for a child’s family. Those are not in conflict, though they can feel like it. The child in your home has a mother and father. They may be working on a case plan. Your job is to help that child stay connected to their family while they are with you.
Some families find they cannot hold both, and that is worth knowing about yourself before a child arrives, not after. If reunification is where your heart is not, route two — adopting a child who is already legally free — may be the more honest fit.
We say this plainly because families deserve to make this decision with the full picture. Foster care is not a path to a child. It is a commitment to a child and, for as long as the plan calls for it, to that child’s family.
How Families 4 Families Walks With Adoptive Families
Families 4 Families is a faith-based, COA-accredited agency licensed in Georgia, working through regional offices across the state — from our CSRA Georgia office serving Augusta and the surrounding counties, to teams in Metro Atlanta, Macon, Savannah, Albany, and beyond.
What that means for a family considering foster to adopt:
- A dedicated case manager with a smaller caseload than a state agency typically carries
- TBRI-based training that prepares you for the behaviors trauma produces, not just the paperwork
- Respite care, parent coaching, and support groups that continue after placement
- Local church partnerships, so the support around your family is in your community
- Staff who will tell you honestly when a particular child’s plan is reunification
You do not have to be certain to start. Most families who eventually adopt from foster care did not begin with certainty — the Evans family’s journey to a family of eight is one example. They began with a question and a willing home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you adopt a child you are fostering in Georgia?
Yes, if the child becomes legally available for adoption and your family is approved and selected. A foster placement does not guarantee adoption — the plan begins as reunification, and only changes if a court terminates parental rights. Foster families are generally given strong consideration when a child in their home becomes free for adoption.
How much does it cost to adopt from foster care in Georgia?
Minimal to nothing. There is no agency placement fee for adopting from Georgia’s foster care system, and licensing and training are provided at no cost. Non-recurring adoption assistance may reimburse court and attorney costs, and children who meet Georgia’s special-needs criteria may qualify for ongoing assistance and Medicaid.
Do I have to be married to adopt from foster care in Georgia?
No. Georgia law allows a single adult who is at least 21 years old to petition to adopt. Married couples file jointly. All petitioners must be at least 10 years older than the child, except stepparents and relatives.
How long does foster to adopt take in Georgia?
Licensing typically takes three to six months. After that, the timeline depends on the child’s case and the court, and no agency can promise a date. Families adopting a child who is already legally free generally move faster than families fostering a child whose case is still working toward reunification.
Is foster to adopt the same as adoption?
No. Foster care is temporary care with reunification as the goal. Adoption is permanent legal parenthood, and it becomes an option only when a court determines a child cannot safely return to their family. Foster to adopt describes families who are open to both.
Take the Next Step Toward Fostering or Adopting in Georgia
If you have read this far, you are already doing the hard part — looking at foster care honestly instead of hoping it will be simpler than it is. You are more ready than you think you are.
Ready to talk it through? Sign up for a free virtual information session or call 770.462.3405 to speak with someone on our team about which route fits your family.
