Foster Care Adoption Resources

The resources below represent only a partial list of national and regional organizations that focus on foster care adoption. For more resources or information, contact your local public child welfare agency or call the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption at 1-800-ASK-DTFA.

The Adopt America Network places special needs children in permanent homes through a network of adoption specialists. The site displays a sample of children seeking adoptive homes.

Adopt Us Kids is dedicated to finding permanent, loving adoptive families for the thousands of US children currently waiting in foster care.

Adopting.com provides web-based resources for prospective adoptive parents: how to get started; links to agencies, facilitators and attorneys; letters from birthparents; support groups; legal information; and a photo listing of waiting children.

Adopting.org contains a wide variety of adoption topics and resources.

The Adoption Council of Canada is the primary resource for Canadians interested in adopting.

The Adoption Exchange connects families who adopt and children who wait and is a place for the exchange of resources on behalf of dozens of adoption agencies. Agencies unable to locate a family for a waiting child often use the exchange’s services to find a family.

The Adoption Policy Resource Center provides adoption subsidy advocates, who give free initial consultations and related policy information to adoptive families, attorneys, advocates and agency professionals.

The Adoption and Foster Care Reporting and Analysis System (AFCARS) collects case level information on all children in foster care for whom state child welfare agencies have responsibility for placement, care or supervision as well as on children who are adopted under the auspices of the state's public child welfare agency. Statistics in the cover story are taken from AFCARS’ Preliminary FY 2008 Estimates as of October 2009. AFCARS is a project of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Adoptive Families Magazine is a publication focusing on adoptive and prospective adoptive families.

The All Children—All Families Initiative educates and engages the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community about foster and adoptive parenting and promotes policies that welcome LGBT prospective parents. An initiative of the Human Rights Campaign.

The American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law provides technical assistance, training and research addressing a broad spectrum of law and court-related topics affecting children. These include child abuse and neglect, adoption, adolescent health, foster and kinship care, custody and support, guardianship, missing and exploited children and exposure to domestic violence.

Bank of America offers unsecured loans specifically designed for adoptive parents and was recognized by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption as an adoption-friendly workplace.

The Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative brings together the people, systems and resources necessary to assist youth leaving foster care in making successful transitions to adulthood. See particularly their 2009 publication Cost Avoidance: Bolstering the Economic Case for Investing In Youth Aging Out of Foster Care.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway is a comprehensive resource on all aspects of adoption. Their National Adoption Directory allows for a statewide search of public and private licensed adoption agencies. It also contains state-by-state information on adoption laws and assistance. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services.

The Child Welfare League of America promotes the well-being of children, youth and their families and is committed to protecting every child from harm.

The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to raising Congressional and public awareness about the issue of adoption. CCAI serves as an informational and educational resource to policymakers about domestic and international adoption-related matters.

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute provides adoption information to media, lawmakers and individuals on topics such as survey data and governmental research.

The Gift of Adoption Fund is a nonprofit foundation that helps families overcome some of the initial financial burdens of adoption (home study, legal fees, etc.).                           

HelpUsAdopt.org is a national nonprofit financial assistance grant program that provides qualified couples and individuals (regardless of race, religion, marital status or sexual orientation) with grants of up to $15,000 toward their adoption expenses.

The Internal Revenue Service offers a federal income tax credit and exclusion for expenses paid to adopt a child. Visit their website to learn more or seek advice from a tax professional.

The Joint Council on International Children's Services advocates on behalf of parentless children worldwide, promotes ethical child welfare practices, strengthens professional standards and educates adoptive families, social service professionals and government representatives throughout the world.

The National Adoption Center created The Adoption Roadmap online training series. The first course, Foster Family to Forever Family, provides an interactive overview of the process of adopting one's foster child and is relevant for all prospective adoptive parents and adoption/child welfare professionals.

The National Adoption Foundation offers an adoption assistance loan to help adoptive families take care of the finances necessary to adopt and raise a child. This includes adoption costs, legal fees, medical services, travel expenses, education costs, home improvements or the everyday cost of raising a family. Grants are only available to families for the actual cost of the adoption.

The National Center for Adoption Law and Policy seeks to improve the law, policies and practices associated with child protection and adoption systems.

The National Council for Adoption is devoted to serving the best interests of children through adoption, advocating for state laws and federal reform to promote sound adoption policy as well as providing adoption education. A recent publication discusses Health Insurance for Adopted Children.

The North American Council on Adoptable Children operates an Adoption Subsidy Resource Center that provides general information on how each state operates its Title IV-E adoption assistance program. Information is also available for Canadians. Families who are adopting children from the foster care system should speak with the child’s caseworker or adoption worker about an adoption subsidy.

The Northwest Adoption Exchange creates public awareness about waiting children and special needs adoption as well as provides information and referrals on a wide variety of adoption issues. It specializes in the placement of children waiting in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and facilitates placements for families with home studies from anywhere in the US.

The Orphan Foundation helps eliminate or minimize financial barriers to adoption by providing grants of $1,000 for each child adopted and $1,500 for each "special needs" adoption. Grants are subject to funding availability, the basis of need, completion of a home study and other factors. To apply, click on the "Grant Application" link.

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption offers a variety of free resources: a step-by-step guide for people considering adoption, a toolkit to propose and establish adoption benefits, adoption awareness toolkits, posters, videos, public service announcements and adoption attitudes research.

The World Association for Children and Parents has set up special funds and programs to help qualified parents cover the costs of certain adoptions.