Older-Aged Children and Adoption

I have recently been pondering the question of whether a child being raised by a parent who lacks the means and possibly even the mental stability to provide properly for a child would be better off being adopted by strangers at an older age or staying with the parent who hasn't proven to be able to provide the child with the proper parenting for the few remaining years the child has as an adolescent. This question was brought about through a series of unfortunate events, primarily most of which have been my own fault.

I haven't always been attempting to be a good parent to my child and for so many of those years when I was blatently unconcerned about the welfare of my child I was able to provide financially fairly well for her. When a time came in my life that I decided that I needed to behave in an appropriate manner and become the parent that my child needed, I began to have difficulty in maintaining the financial stability I had always been able claim as my only positive parental quality. The past few years, the financial struggles have become so severe, that chronic homelessness has become a norm, rather than an exception. Poor decision making didn't stop immediately with me, it has improved over time and today I feel I am a great mom, but that I cannot follow through with all of my good intentions due to the many obstacles that have become part of the proper plan to total self-improvement.