Bringing Children and Families Together

Research suggests that careful attention to matching children's individual needs with prospective adoptive families' strengths can contribute to more successful outcomes and help prevent adoption disruption and dissolution. Increasingly, States and jurisdictions are using social media in this matching process. Find resources to help bring children and families together for adoptive placement.

Being Matched With a Child
AdoptUSKids
Explains the process of identifying potential adoptive children, including communicating with caseworkers and completing a home study.

Destination Family: Achieving Permanency for Children and Youth Through Relationship Development Matching
North American Council on Adoptable Children (2018)
AdoptTalk, 2
Highlights the Sierra Forever Families’ Destination Family program, which finds and supports adoptive families for children in foster care.

Finding a Fit that Will Last a Lifetime: A Guide to Connecting Adoptive Families With Waiting Children (PDF - 225 KB)
Gerstenzang & Freundlich (2014)
AdoptUSKids
Provides a guide for caseworkers and families to help them understand the match process and includes recommendations for key stages.

Plan, Prepare, and Support to Prevent Disruptions
Riggs (2017)
North American Council on Adoptable Children
Explains that careful matching, adequate preparation, thoughtful transitions, and abundant family support after adoption contributes to adoptive family stability.

Search AdoptUSKids Photolisting
AdoptUSKids
Connects to the AdoptUSKids search engine, which contains thousands of children available for adoption.

Writing Children's Narratives
AdoptUSKids
Discusses the purpose of creating a narrative for potential adoptive children in order to support their connection to potential adoptive families. It also includes several writing tips.

(Back to Top)