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Adoption from Foster Care
When children in out-of-home care cannot be safely reunited with their birth families, adoption is often the most desirable goal. Adoption provides the most stable, legally binding relationship for these children and their adoptive parents.
Foster parents adopt most children who are adopted from foster care; many other children are adopted by relatives. In some cases, child welfare professionals must recruit potential adoptive families for specific children who are waiting for adoption.
- Recruiting and retaining parents
- Preparing adoptive families
- Working with children with special needs
- National Adoption Month
AdoptUsKids
The only national, federally funded photolisting service for children in foster care waiting for permanent families.
"Special Needs" Adoption: What Does It Mean?
Child Welfare Information Gateway (2010)
Presents common questions about adopting a child or youth with special needs and provides resources that will give prospective adoptive parents detailed answers.
Foster Parent Adoption: A Bulletin for Professionals
Child Welfare Information Gateway (2006)
Discusses issues related to the increasing importance of foster parents as permanency resources for children in foster care. Practice issues include assessment, adoption preparation and postadoption support, and facilitating ongoing connections with birth families. (PDF - 331 KB)
Foster Parents Considering Adoption: A Factsheet for Families
Child Welfare Information Gateway (2012)
This factsheet for families summarizes what foster parents should consider while deciding whether to adopt their foster child or youth. While this factsheet does not address the specifics of how to adopt, it provides information on the differences between foster care and adoption, and it explores some of the factors foster parents should consider before deciding to adopt.
Helping Your Foster Child Transition to Your Adopted Child: A Factsheet for Families
Child Welfare Information Gateway (2012)
This factsheet summarizes how foster/adoptive parents can help their child make the emotional adjustment to being an adopted child. Children and youth may not clearly comprehend the difference between being a foster child versus being an adopted child in the same family. This factsheet provides specific steps parents can take to help children understand these changes along with helpful resources.