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Foster care and adoption
Thank you for your interest in Garfield County's children, and our foster care and adoption programs.
There are currently around 50 children living in out-of-home care in Garfield County.
There is no "typical" child who comes into care. The children are boys and girls of all ages and from all ethnic backgrounds. They enter the foster care system when their birth families are unable to protect them and keep them safe.
Our primary goal is to have children return home. However, some will not and will require permanent adoptive families. Feel free to call and inquire about being a foster or adoptive parent.
Feel free to call to inquire about being a foster or adoptive parent:
970-625-5282 ext. 3120
or call:
Rachele Mettauer
Foster Care Coordinator
Garfield County Department of Human Services
195 West 14th Street
Rifle, CO 81650
970-625-5282, ext. 3268
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Foster care information
Family foster homes provide temporary substitute care for children, from birth through 18, who have been removed from their families due to physical, sexual or emotional abuse, neglect, or the parent is otherwise unavailable.
Foster parents offer day-to-day care and guidance until the child can be reunited with his or her birth family, move to a kinship family or permanent adoptive home or emancipate.
Caseworkers work closely with foster parents to identify and meet the special needs of the child(ren).The children are covered by Medicaid insurance and the foster parents are given a monthly stipend to help reimburse the cost of care.
Foster home adoption
If it is determined that a child cannot return to their birth-family home, GCDHS is responsible for finding a permanent home.
Permanency can be achieved by permanent custody with kin, or adoption. In cases where the birth parents are unable to make changes and cannot protect and care for their child, parental rights may be relinquished or terminated. The child then needs a permanent family (adoption).
Foster families who are interested in adopting are called Foster-Adopt Families. These families give their hearts to a child, not knowing if the child will be returning to their birth family or if they will become legally-free for adoption.
While some of our Foster-Adopt placements result in finalized adoptions, it is important to understand that we cannot guarantee that outcome. Again, Foster-Adopt parenting is about the child. For a child's sake, we ask you to take the risk.
Post Adoption Services - COPARC
Mission
The mission of the Post-Adoption Services Program is to support adoptive families in their community. We strive to strengthen families by providing a safe place to receive support, resources and understanding.
History
The Garfield County Post-Adoption Services Program was created in 2005 to provide support to families who have adopted children. The program is run through the resource family team at GCDHS.
The program currently serves families who have adopted through the child welfare system and reside in Garfield County
The Garfield County Post-Adoption Services Program is a developing resource.
Services that are currently offered include:
Adoption - competent staff available to meet with you
Continued contact and support from the Garfield County Family Resource Unit
A bi-monthly adoptive parent education group facilitated by an adoptive and foster parent
Financial sssistance
Lending library
Information on community resources
For information on the adoptive parent group or the Garfield County Post-Adoption Services Program, please call 970-945-9191, ext. 3005.
For more post-adoption resources in the state of Colorado, visit The Adoption Exchange.
Children are waiting! There are many children waiting to be adopted throughout the state of Colorado and across the nation.
For more information visit the following websites:
www.AdoptUSKids.org and www.adoptex.org - Colorado Post-Adoption Resource Center (COPARC)
COPARC offers:
Funding for special needs of children
Information, support and referrals
Lists of post-adoption services
Family and professional seminar
An annual conference
Funding for several county postadoption services
Newsletters and much more!
Eligibility: Child welfare adoption and current Colorado residence.
If you would like more information, call:1-800-451-5246 or email: postadopt@adoptex.org. We are online at http://tae.convio.net/COPARC.
COPARC is funded through Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program, Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare in partnership with The Adoption Exchange.
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