After fostering a little boy for more than two years, Hallmark television channel actress Jen Lilley and her husband were named prospective adoptive parents. They had planned to file paperwork to start the process of adopting baby J but the court suddenly closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
"Kern county court staff have been furloughed and the person who was supposed to sign off is no longer working," Lilley told the Southern California Record. "COVID has affected our adoption hearing. We’re hoping for a Zoom adoption.”
Legal proceedings being on hold is just one challenge among many that the foster and adoption industry are currently facing as a result of the coronavirus.
Hallmark tv actress Jen Lilley is a foster and adoption advocate
| Jen Lilley
“What’s scary about COVID-19 is that schools are closed and children in high-risk situations are the safest at school, hospitals and doctor’s offices,” said Lilley, a child abuse, foster and adoption advocate.
The upside of the coronavirus is that it’s causing the foster and adoption industry to digitize the application process, including fingerprinting and parenting classes, which formerly happened face-to-face.
“Many of the steps to adopting or fostering have been converted to online classes,” said Bridgette Bradley, executive director of Adoption Discovery. “A company that works with the FBI will send you a remote fingerprinting kit where they monitor fingerprint collection remotely. After mailing your fingerprints in, they are verified and put into a vault.”
The downside is that prospective parents fear exposure to the coronavirus if they adopt or foster.
“They’re not taking in new children because they fear that they or the children who already live in their home will be infected by a new child,” said Lilley, who hosts a podcast called Fostering Hope and advocates for the Project Orphans Foundation. “We’re getting a higher and higher intake of kids into the system with nowhere to put them.”
As of May 23, there were 90,631 positive coronavirus cases statewide, according to the Department of Health, and 3,708 fatalities.
Because catastrophes tend to have an impact on human relations to the point of conception, pregnancy, and birth, according to the Institute for Family Studies, a surprise outcome of the coronavirus could be an increase in pregnancies in 2021.
“The U.S. is about to have an influx after COVID and the quarantine is over, I expect we will have a ton of unexpected pregnancies and birth mother adoptions in December or January of next year,” Bradley told the Southern California Record.
In the past, adoption could cost thousands of dollars but the landscape has changed, according to Bradley, and the only upfront cost when adopting through the Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) is the orientation fee.
“The Department of Family and Children’s Services charges a $30 fee for orientation, whether it takes place in person or online, but as soon as you complete the class, they will reimburse you the $30,” said Bradley who is hosting an Adoption Virtual Summit in August. “The only reason they're asking you for that money is so that you actually show up for the orientation.”
For prospective parents who prefer to test the waters before committing to adopt a baby or foster a child, Lilley suggests becoming a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) or joining a volunteer organization, such as Child Help or Big Brothers, Big Sisters.
“Another easy way to get involved is to call the Los Angeles County DFCS,” Lilley said. “They need help and when you offer to help, you become part of the solution while gaining information about the fostering and adoption process.”