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There are tens of thousands of children in the United States who have special needs and are waiting for permanent homes. In the past, children who have special needs have been generally considered harder to place for adoption than others, but in reality, many children with special needs can be successfully placed. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 has focused more attention on finding permanent homes for those children who have special needs as well as making certain that they have the post adoption services they need.

When used in adoption, "special needs" may include several factors, and sometimes vary from one state to another. In general, children with special needs have physical or health problems, are older, are members of a minority group, have siblings and need to be adopted as a group, have HIV, have emotional problems, a history of abuse or neglect, have conditions that may lead to problems in the future, or have had some form of prenatal exposure to drugs or alcohol. Nearly all special needs children who are eligible for adoption are currently in foster care.

Nearly any adoptive parent who has the commitment, skills, and preparation to adopt may adopt a special needs child. Most agencies differ in their specific requirements for adopting a special needs child, and the requirements for age and marital status tend to be less restrictive for special needs children. Most agencies will consider both single and married applicants from 18 to 50 years of age, and sometimes even older than 50. The age is often considered differently depending on the age of the child. Most agencies require that married couples be married for at least 1 to 3 years.

Article Keywords: Special Education

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Special Education... Protecting Your Child: Setting Up a Special Needs Trust Parents of children with special needs, such as those with cerebral palsy should visit a lawyer and set up a Special Needs Trust. A special needs trust is set up allow use of property for the beneficiary without losing access to essential government services and benefits. As it stands now a person who is disabled cannot inherit more than $2,000- it will interrupt his or her government benefits. Especially important are long-term care and nursing home benefits under the Medicaid welfare program. Government benefit programs are now recognizing that family contributions can only improve a disabled person's life. As long as the family's contributions are supplementary and do not duplicate government benefit programs, they are allowed. Some current government benefit programs do let the family to provide some supplementary income and resources to the person with a disability. However, government regulations are very strict, and they are carefully monitored for abuse. Special Needs Trusts are frequently used as a way to receive an inheritance or personal injury settlement proceeds on behalf of a disabled person in order to allow the person to qualify for Medicaid benefits. A special needs trust can be used to buy such things as: uninsured medical and dental expenses, eyeglasses Maintenance of vehicles Insurance (including payment of premiums) Transportation (including buying a vehicle ) Athletic training, gym membership or competitions Personal care attendant or escort Rehabilitation Essential dietary needs Purchase materials for a hobby or recreation activity Purchase a computer or other electronic equipment Pay for trips or vacations,concerts,outings Buy things that add to quality to life: movies,video games,...