Fostering to Adoption – The Journey of a Lifetime

A family is officially made complete.

A blessing and a challenge

Michael Logan and his wife, Terri, took their first steps into the world of foster/adoptive parents 26 years ago. “We were busy building our future when we realized there was something missing,” Michael says. “We wanted to have children in our lives. This is when we first considered becoming foster parents.”

The next year they brought seven-year-old twins into their home and raised them to adulthood. “What a blessing and a challenge!” he says. “We never questioned the decision we made, and it has been one of the most rewarding and inspiring experiences of our lives. Twenty-five years later, we now have eight grandchildren.”

Along that path, Michael became CEO of Children First Foster Family Agency, a private, non-profit agency that he founded in 1999. Children First has grown from one employee to more than 50 and serves Butte, Glenn, Shasta, Siskiyou, and Tehama Counties. “Our agency was originally created to meet the needs of children in foster care,” he explains, “but after several years, we expanded to include Intensive Services Foster Care, Transitional Housing Programs, Solutions for Youth Fund, and the counseling for children and adults.”

Many options for adoption and fostering

Michael says, “Children First is not an adoption agency, but we’ve worked with families interested in adoption from the very beginning.” There are many different adoption types, including closed, open, private agency, public agency (foster care), domestic, international, and independent. Adopting from foster care does not typically cost money, but some agencies will charge for their services.

For anyone considering adoption, Michael recommends exploring all these options fully. It may take more than six months to complete the adoption home study required by the process. He notes that the Children First home study may often suffice for the adoption requirement and says, “The length of time depends greatly on you and how quickly you complete all the necessary processes and paperwork. Fostering to adopt may be a lengthy process, but in the end, it is well worth it.”

He notes that Children First is currently working with more than 75 families open to adoption from foster care. “Most kids in foster care that have not had a permanent home identified, have not had their parental rights legally terminated, and would have to have that step done to be legally available to adopt. Many biological parents will appeal the petition to terminate rights, but 99% of the time the appeals are in favor of terminating rights. Once an adoption is finalized, you have all the same legal rights as if you gave birth to the children you’ve adopted.”

Michael with four of his eight grandchildren.

A foster journey that began with a simple offer of help

J.B., a single mother from Red Bluff, CA, is a mother in one of the more than 50 families who have adopted children from foster care while working with Children First over the years.

“When I started my foster journey, I could not even imagine I would become a single mom to a little boy and a teenage girl, but God had a plan for me,” she says. “I always wanted a family but sometimes your life doesn’t turn out exactly how you think it will. “

Her foster journey started when she began providing respite” help to a friend who had taken in four boys. “They were quite a handful, and she needed help or sometimes just a break!” she says.”It was a totally different experience from watching my family or friends’ children, and I felt a bit unprepared for the reality of foster care. There were night terrors, food hoarding, stealing, lying, manipulating, bedwetting, and screaming. That was terrifying. The trauma these kids have suffered is unimaginable. You think, as a responsible adult, you can handle anything but imagine being a three-year-old child that witnessed your father raping your mother. You can’t. It’s just not real.”

She says she had her “aha” moment when she attended a training class. “The teacher told me, ‘they’re not normal kids.’ It really took me a minute to stop and think about that. She was right. They aren’t normal, and I was trying to treat them as if they were. It was an eye-opening event for me and really helped me look at these children differently and with more empathy and understanding.”

Not easy but “so worth it”

Six years later, she has adopted her son and has legal guardianship of her daughter. She says, “It has not been an easy road, but I wouldn’t change a bit of it! It’s still tough sometimes, but I can’t imagine my life without my children in it. I will never forget the dozens of children placed with me that have left. I pray for their health and happiness, and each of them will have a place in my heart forever. Fostering isn’t easy, but it is so worth it.”

Michael explains that Children First can help facilitate placements of foster children identified as needing a concurrent home. They also can work with county and state adoption departments searching for permanent placements. “As of July 1, there were 60,778 children in foster care in California,” he says. “About 5,500 children are adopted each year, and about 2,000 California children need an adoptive family every day. Our agency would be happy to assist anyone looking to learn more about fostering to adopt or other ways that are available to help children in care.”

Children First Foster Family Agency has offices in Redding, Red Bluff, and Yreka and can approve foster families in Butte, Glenn, Shasta, Siskiyou, and Tehama Counties.