Adoption 101

Prospective parents must complete Adoption Orientation, a Professional Parenting course, have an approved home study complete with background screenings, required paperwork and documentation. Most importantly, you must be willing to make a lifelong commitment to a child in need.

You must be at least 21 years old to adopt, financially stable and able to provide for basic needs of yourself and your family, and must have an approved adoption home study. Age, race, gender, and sexual orientation are not factors that would prohibit you from adopting from the foster care system.

Children available for adoption are those whose parents’ rights have been terminated and are without a Forever Family. Most available children are at least 9 years old, part of a sibling group, and/or have special medical or therapeutic needs. All children in foster care have experienced some form of abuse, abandonment, and/or neglect and will need help recovering and processing the trauma they have experienced.

This can vary greatly depending on each circumstance. However, as a general rule it usually takes about 9 -12 months from the time a family first calls an adoption agency to the time when a child is placed with the family.

Yes! Your approved home study is applicable for any child welfare agency. Each circumstance will be assessed to determine if it is appropriate for a child to move out of state. Keep in mind these adoptions can take a little longer depending on the case.