Misdemeanors in adoption?

Question

How will a misdemeanor affect my chance for adoption?
I am currently applying to adopt a child and have a home study coming up. My husband and I both have misdemeanors on our records. I have 3 MIC and my husband has 4. I am now 25 and my husband is 28. These misdemeanors all happened before we were 21. How can I check to even see if there are all on our records. Isn't 8 or more years (for my husband) long enough for these not to be an issue. We have no other criminal background. I also am in graduate school for Pediatric Clinical Psychology and have my M.A. in Clinical Psychology. I have a lot of background and experience with children and my criminal history has never played a negative role (I have had background checks for every thing envolving a child). Just wondering how these skeletons in my closet can affect my adoption? I had a previous response from a social worker that said she would in no circumstance let us adopt a child. Just need some reassurance.

Answer 1

Federal laws regarding States handling of foster-care and adoption have been updated within the last 5-6 years and require NO criminal history. I had to remove a long-standing foster placement because the new laws were enacted and I had to "qualify" the foster parents. The foster father's criminal record showed a misdemeanor from 23 years earlier... and for which he was ordered to pay a fine only, no probation time. And I had to remove that boy from their home.

Go to the courts in the town where the misd's happened and see about getting them expunged. After this many years, it shouldn't be a problem.

If the placement is not through a state agency, however, the requirements are likely more lenient. Check with the folks doing the home study and see if they will provide a list of their requirements to you.

Answer 2

I hope I am not the social worker who said "under no circumstance would I let you adopt a child."

That is not what I said....I said your criminal history is recent in the eyes of the state, and because you have MULTIPLE offenses it would be a great concern to me. I said, I wouldn't select one of my children to be placed with you...I should rephrase, I would have SERIOUS concerns and reservations and your social worker would have to do some fast talking to convince me things were stable now.

You still have yet to say what these offenses are, you also failed to include your current situation and education.

Yes, a criminal history that involves multiple misdeameanors within ten years on the part of both parents is an issue....it will depend on what the charges were...also how many offenses (you can get charged multiple times, but only have ONE incident).

Also, there are many people involved here...your social worker, the say of the social worker of the child, the state who has a say, the court who has final say.

The other thing is this...when you apply for a child, depending on the age and needs of the child, it is a often a competition...at least in my state...agencies like to take three families to the table to discuss a placement....I can bet that most of the other families will not have 7 misdemeanors between them.

I'm not saying that it won't happen, I'm saying YES THIS WILL AFFECT your chance for adoption.....it will make it harder....but your education may help, and the fact that you have some negative life experiences that you have learned from may be an asset in working with special needs children.

Answer 3

i just adopted a child last Jan. i had a misdemeanor myself at 22. i was 30 when i adopted. this did not show up on my background check. but i was upfront and honest with the social worker doing the homestudy. personally I'm not familiar with MIC, minor in ?, but my suggestion would be to be honest with the social worker. you can call the county where these misdemeanor's happened and ask if they have been purged or not. but again i would be honest about them. i had to list mine and what i did, and what i did to change things and what i learned. my social worker was happier i was upfront and honest about it, showing i was remorseful and had learned something. she said this goes a lot further than i had tried to hide this. we are all stupid in our youth. as long as your record is currently clean, i can't see a reason why they could hold it against you. but being honest is going to look a whole lot better,than if this incident pops up later down the road and you were dishonest or misleading about it. i think your current record and accomplishments speak much louder than stupid things done as a teen. do what i did. pull some of that lovely psychology BS they taught you in school to really sell yourself now. best of luck, adoption is the most rewarding decision i have ever made. i am one lucky parent to have such a wonderful daughter!

Answer 4

If you're up front and honest about the misdemeanor, you have a better chance, because you can explain why you have the record. If the adoption agency finds out later, they might call child protective services and have the child taken from you.

Answer 5

Depends on what the misdemeanors were.


My grandfather has a misdemeanor (a few) and my grand mother got custody of their grandson, but I dont know if that is different.

Answer 6

some misdemeanors can be expundged(taken off) check with your local p.d sheriff's office and see what you can do about having them removed.....

Answer 7

Criminal Record Search Database - http://InfoSearchDetective.com