National Foster Care & Adoption Directory Search

Foster Care and Adoption Education and Training Organizations - Includes State organizations that provide publications, online learning tools, discussion groups, workshops, as well as other support and advocacy resources designed to meet the needs of adoptive parents and their children.

Foster Care and Adoption Contact Numbers and Websites - Includes State resources to connect prospective foster and adoptive parents with information on how to become a foster or adoptive parent. Search results for this category include contact information for:

Statewide Foster Care Information Line - A phone number to call for information about becoming a foster parent in a particular State or territory.

Statewide Adoption Information Line - A phone number to call for information about adopting children in foster care in a particular State or territory.

State Adoption Exchange - Adoption exchanges provide information that helps educate prospective adoptive parents about the adoption process and the characteristics of children waiting for adoption in the U.S. foster care system. Exchanges also link prospective adoptive families with children waiting for adoption but do not conduct home studies or actually place children for adoption.

State Photolisting of Children Waiting for Adoption - Photolisting services provide pictures and brief descriptions of the children in the State or territory foster care system who have the permanency goal of adoption and are waiting for families.

State Foster Care and Adoption Officials - Contact information for State-level administrators who manage all State or territory programs related to foster care and adoption. Search results for this category include contact information for:

State Foster Care Program Manager - Has oversight responsibility for all foster care services provided to children in the custody of the State or territory. The Foster Care Manager is the expert and authority on foster care policy in each State or territory.

State Adoption Program Manager - Has oversight responsibility for all adoption services provided to children in the custody of the State or territory. The Adoption Program Manager is the expert and authority on adoption policy in each State or territory.

State Licensing Specialist - Maintains the listing of licensed child-placing agencies in each State or territory.

State Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (ICAMA) Administrator - Responsible for overseeing the administration of ICAMA, which regulates the delivery of medical services and adoption assistance to children moving across State or territory lines for foster care placement or adoption. This person should be contacted by adoption and foster care professionals only.

State Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) Administrator - Provides legal and fiscal oversight for ICPC, which regulates the interstate movement of children in foster care, adoption, residential treatment, or juvenile justice programs. This person should be contacted by adoption and foster care professionals only.

State Medical Assistance Specialist - The expert on medical assistance and services for children in foster care, adoption, residential treatment, or juvenile justice programs in each State or territory.

State Postadoption Services Specialist - The expert on State postadoption services and programs in each State or territory.

State Adoption Assistance Specialist - The expert on State adoption assistance programs in each State or territory.

State Reunion Registries/Confidential Intermediary Services - Includes contact information for State or territory services that provide access to adoption records to those affected by adoption. Release of adoption records is governed by State or territory law, and not all States or territories provide systems for accessing adoption records. Search results for this category include contact information for:

State Reunion Registries - Provides contact information for State or territory registries that allow adopted adults, birth parents, and sometimes birth siblings and adoptive parents to consent (or withhold consent) to have their identifying information from adoption records released. Not all States and territories provide information from adoption records through reunion registries.

Confidential Intermediary Services - Provides contact information for court-appointed confidential intermediaries, through which adopted adults, birth parents, and other birth relatives can consent to the release of information from adoption records, exchange information, and/or make contact, if a reunion is desired. Many, but not all, States and territories have established confidential intermediary services.

Licensed Adoption Agencies - Includes licensed private child-placing agencies in each State or territory that provide domestic and/or intercountry adoption services. Search results for this category include contact information for:

Private Domestic Foster Care and Adoption Agencies - Includes licensed private adoption agencies with domestic adoption programs. Agencies have a verified child-placing license in the State or territory in which they are practicing at the time they are added to the Directory. Each agency's license is verified annually. Inclusion on this list does not represent an endorsement or recommendation by Information Gateway or the Children's Bureau.

Private Intercountry Adoption Agencies - Includes licensed private adoption agencies with intercountry adoption programs. Agencies included on this list have a verified child-placing license in the State or territory in which they are practicing at the time they are added to the Directory. Each agency's license is verified annually. Agencies accredited to provide adoption services under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption are noted in the Directory's search results page. Inclusion on this list does not represent an endorsement or recommendation by Information Gateway or the Children's Bureau.

Support Groups - Support groups facilitate an understanding of common issues and provide the opportunity to share problem-solving strategies through group discussions and exchange of relevant information and referrals. Our listing includes contact information for groups that aim to support prospective as well as foster and adoptive parents, birth parents and relatives, kinship care providers, and adopted adults. Search results for this category include contact information for:

Kinship, Foster Care and Adoption Support Groups - Includes groups that offer support and information for prospective foster, adoptive, or kinship parents and/or families who have already had children placed in their home or have adopted. Groups differ and may be facilitated by either parents or professionals.

Birth Family and Adoptee Search Support Groups - Includes groups that offer support and information to adopted adults, birth parents, and relatives involved in a search for birth family members, and for birth family members not necessarily involved in searching.