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Recruiting Foster/Adoptive Parents

Resources, techniques, and approaches used by various organizations and The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids to recruit potential foster/adoptive parents. Resources include State and local examples.

Compliance With the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994, as Amended, and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Children's Bureau & National Child Welfare Resource Center for Adoption Presents a two-part video series designed to address compliance with the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA). Answering the Call Publications The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids Assists States and Tribes in recruiting foster and adoptive families for children in foster care. State Guidelines AdoptUsKids Supplies information to child welfare professionals and prospective adoptive and foster parents who want to learn more about State guidelines, local agencies, parent support groups, and resources that can help with the child placement process.

Ad Council Adoption Campaign
Download press materials or copies of the print, Internet, and TV ads for a national public service campaign that encourages prospective parents to adopt children from foster care.

Adoption Posters
Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
AdoptUsKids is partnering with The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to provide six posters promoting National Adoption Month.

Child-Specific Recruitment (PDF - 88 KB)
National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning (2002)
Includes information on promising practices, practice tips, policies and legislation, and other resources.

Developing a National Network of Adoption Advocacy Programs
Children's Bureau Discretionary Grant Cluster
Presents site visit reports from programs funded to operate a national network of adoption advocacy programs that are modeled on the One Church, One Child program and that will work in close cooperation with State foster care and adoption programs.

Ethics and Adoptive Family Recruitment
Freundlich & Gerstenzang
North American Council on Adoptable Children (2004)
Adoptive family recruitment methods have evolved significantly and now need to address families who know nothing about adoption as well as those who have contemplated adoption for years.

Foster Care Adoption in the United States: An Analysis of Interest in Adoption and a Review of State Recruitment Strategies
Urban Institute (2005)
Common barriers to finding adoptive families for children in foster care and promising practices to overcome them.

Individualized and Targeted Recruitment for Adoption (PDF - 142 KB)
National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning (2003)
Recruitment efforts that have achieved results.

Legislative Background of the Multiethnic Placement Act
Children’s Bureau Express, 9(6), 2008
Explains the history and primary purposes of the Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) and the 1996 Amendments to MEPA contained in the Interethnic Adoption Provisions (IEAP), of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-188).

National Adoption Month Recruitment & Marketing Toolkit (PDF - 734 KB)
The Collaboration to AdoptUsKids
Designed to assist agencies in promoting November as National Adoption Month.

Parent Recruitment and Training: A Crucial, Neglected Child Welfare Strategy (PDF – 526 KB)
Zappalla
Adoption Advocate, 6, 2007
Presents results of a study exploring the emphasis that States give foster and adoptive parent recruitment and training services by examining their allocation of Federal child welfare funding.

Partners: Working with the Business Community to Recruit Resource Families
Casey Family Programs (2002)
Describes strategies that child welfare agencies can use to strengthen their recruitment of resource families, such as partnerships with the private and public business community.

Promising Practices in Diligent Recruitment of Foster and Adoptive Families
Children’s Bureau Express, 9(6), 2008
Highlights promising practices that have emerged in the area of diligent recruitment.

Recruiting Families
North American Council on Adoptable Children
Newsletters and articles to help professionals enhance efforts to find and keep adoptive families.

Recruiting Hispanic Foster Parents: Issues of Culture, Language, and Social Policy
Capello & Correa
Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 84(4), 2006
Addresses issues of culture, language, and social policy which must be considered when recruiting Hispanic foster parents.

Resources for Diligent and Targeted Recruitment
Children’s Bureau Express, 9(6), 2008
Links to resources offering ideas, promising practices, and strategies for States and agencies seeking out new ways to recruit adoptive and foster parents who reflect the race and ethnicity of children in foster care.

State Adoption Exchange Websites

State and local examples

Clarifying Culture in Placement Decisions (PDF – 142 KB)
Minnesota Department of Human Services (2003)
Reiterates the Federal legal restrictions that govern the use of race and culture in decisions regarding recruitment and placement in Minnesota.

Diversity and Adoption Recruitment in Massachusetts: Challenges and Potential Solutions (PDF - 224 KB)
University of Massachusetts Center for Adoption Research & Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (2006)
This policy brief presents results of a study of attitudes towards adoption among Massachusetts residents and focuses on implications for recruitment of special populations of prospective adoptive families and concludes with recommendations for more targeted recruitment efforts.

Increasing Knowledge About Foster Care Adoption: Barriers and Potential Solutions (PDF - 215 KB)
University of Massachusetts Center for Adoption Research & Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (2006)
This policy brief focuses on knowledge about foster care adoptions among Massachusetts residents and includes recommendations for more targeted recruitment efforts.

Innovative Recruitment Strategies: The Latino Family Institute
Children’s Bureau Express, 9(6), 2008
Describes how the Latino Family Institute used funds from a Federal Adoption Opportunities grant to find permanent families for Latino children in Los Angeles.

New Mexico Heart Gallery
New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department
Portraits of children in foster care in New Mexico who are waiting to be adopted.

No Family, No Future: Greater Investment in Family Caregiver Recruitment and Support is Essential to Improve Outcomes for California's Foster Children (PDF – 183 KB)
County Welfare Directors Association of California & Legal Advocates for Permanent Parenting (2007)
Discusses the shortage of foster care homes for foster children in California, the benefits of family foster care, and the impact of low reimbursement rates on the supply of foster care homes.

Project A-HUG Closing Summary
Westside Children's Center (2002)
View Abstract
Describes program to recruit Latino and African American families to adopt waiting children.

Recruitment of Families to Adopt Children from Foster Care: Barriers and Potential Solutions (PDF - 206 KB)
University of Massachusetts Center for Adoption Research & Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (2006)
This policy brief focuses on implications for recruitment of prospective adoptive families and concludes with recommendations for more targeted recruitment efforts.

Special Needs Adoption Program (SNAP)
Porter-Leath Children's Center & Goodwill Homes Community Service, Inc. (2002)
View Abstract
Outlines the activities and accomplishments of SNAP. Working with the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth and Department of Children Services, seven nonprofit organizations, and two churches, SNAP resulted in the placement of 73 minority children.

They Deserve a Family: Higher Foster Family Home Rates Could Lead to Better Outcomes, Including More Adoptions, for California's Foster Children (PDF - 798 KB)
University of San Diego School of Law Children's Advocacy Institute (2007)
Discusses the dearth of foster care homes for foster children in California, and the need to raise foster care family reimbursement rates to increase the supply of foster care homes.

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Updated on February 24, 2010