Articles
Recent news articles and public conversations about immigration, deportation, and birthright citizenship have led some intercountry adoptive parents to worry about their child's citizenship status....
NCFA has been a strong advocate of the Adoption Tax Credit (ATC) since its inception, as a fiscally responsible way to help more American families who want to provide a permanent, loving hom...
With proper financial planning, adoption can be an affordable option for many families. Whether you're interested in adoption grants or loans, the list below includes some of the resources availa...
Across the United States, there are more than 108,000 children and teens waiting for permanency with a loving, nurturing family. Get the facts and resources you need to decide if adopting a waiting...
Earlier today, the Administration for Children and Families released their annual report on U.S. Foster Care and Adoption statistics. You can view the full AFCARS report here. We provide a detailed...
National Adoption Month is always an interesting time for those who are adopted. It is a month full of opportunities to be intentional about elevating the voices and needs of adoptees who may often...
The vast majority of children who are placed for adoption from foster care are eligible for an adoption subsidy/assistance. It is also possible that a child who is not in the foster care system (so...
PDF Version 1. Applying after the adoption is finalized. Families should wait to have a signed subsidy agreement before proceeding to finalize the adoption. It is very rare to have an...
PDF Version There are different types of adoption assistance that families may receive. Children can qualify for state or federal subsidies, and each state has discretion regarding the ...
It's not common, but adoption fraud can and does occur. In this article, we'll be focusing on how hopeful adoptive parents can protect themselves from an adoption scam by being educated about the w...
We learned a lot about the characteristics of adoptive parents in the U.S. when we conducted a nationwide survey in 2021 that garnered 4,200+ responses - the largest survey to date of this populati...
Originally published in the Opinion section of the Washington Post, November 30, 2022 and is available here. The Nov. 19 Made by History essay, "Our adoption policies have harmed families and child...
All adoptions are transcultural, given that every family has its own unique culture. However, for children who are adopted into families of a different racial or ethnic background, the losses are c...
A Webinar for Adoption Professionals on Preparing, Educating, and Supporting Adoptive Families How many calls from families have you received describing a crisis situation with their child that lea...
A training course for adoption professionals As families prepare to welcome a child through adoption, it is important that they consider the possibility that their child was or will be exposed to s...
A free training module from NCFA The purpose of this training module is help you be aware of indicators of sexual abuse; recognize the impact in interrupted sexual development; aware of the unique ...
Many children in the United States receive diagnoses and therapeutic services to help meet their needs. These children's parents, teachers, medical providers, and other caregivers, focus on meeting...
The purpose of this training module is to help foster and adoptive parents understand and normalize the need to ask for services and the importance of being a life-long learner, recognize the need ...
Learn how to advocate for your child in school The purpose of this training module is to help foster and adoptive parents understand educational considerations that may need to be put in place for ...
Course Registration Studies show that adopted children are referred for special needs support within the school system at twice the rate of non-adopted children. NCFA's recent Profiles ...
Considering adoption after infertility can bring a lot of questions, and figuring out how to make the right decisions can feel overwhelming. We hope that these frequently asked questions and answer...
Prospective adoptive parents pursue adoption for various reasons, this can include expanding their family following the birth of a child or creating a family as a single person. For others, the rou...
With a lunch box in hand and a plaid skirt down to my knees, I entered the gymnasium for my first day of fifth grade. Fifth grade was a big deal at morning arrival and afternoon dismissal-- we got ...
A note from the Author: When I wrote this article, I was a 17-year-old in the midst of college application season. I was a few months shy of being legally independent from my parents in order to ...
Thanks to the participation of over 4,200 adoptive parents, NCFA collected an expansive volume of data through our 2021 survey. In our new report, we highlight some of the key findings of our analy...
As you may expect, parenting adopted children comes with its own unique set of challenges. Parenting transracially adopted children can add additional layers of challenges for parents to navigate a...
Ensuring U.S. citizenship for their adopted child can be a daunting task for expat parents. Essentially, there are three ways that a foreign-born child can obtain U.S. citizenship following adoptio...
Kinship adoption is perhaps one the lesser-known and understood types of adoption, and yet it has been happening for decades, both formally and informally. In the U.S. there is a renewed emphasis o...
An overview of adoption trends in the United States PDF version 18% Decrease in adoptions from foster care from FY19 - FY 21 19,130 Number who aged out of foster care withou...
A visual snapshot of NCFA's impact in adoption awareness, education, research, and advocacy in 2021 made possible by the engagement and generosity of our friends and supporters. Loading...
Learn More - Single Parent Adoption: The Process and Experience of Adopting Unpartnered
Parenting is not an easy job. There are many things you can do to help you prepare for the many colossal feats this task presents like, reading books, watching videos, or seeking advice from those ...
After the Open Birth Certificates Act of NJ came into effect in 2017, I attended an event that led me to a newfound boldness about search and reunion in adoption. At this event I had my first exper...
By Crystal Kupper Subtle yet steady, a culture war has been slowly brewing in the child advocacy world. It boasts no herald to announce its merits to the nation, and few outside its fields of battl...
In honor of National Adoption Month 2020, NCFA is featuring various stories and perspectives on adoption. Today we welcome guest writer Jessica, a birth mom, working to raise awareness about the im...
If you are considering an intercountry adoption you probably have lots of questions and may not be sure where to even begin trying to understand all that is involved. Let's start with the basics, a...
Adoption can be a positive option for all members of the triad; infants placed for adoption can grow up in a loving family, birth parents who are not ready or able to parent are given the opportuni...
We know that you probably have a lot of questions. The questions and answers on this page may not answer all the questions you may have about adoption, but this list should help you get started. ...
Depending on what type of adoption service you are looking for, you may be able to work with either an adoption agency or attorney, or both. Use this chart to discover your options! Please note tha...
My name is Lydia, and I placed my perfect little girl for adoption two days after she was born. The raw and painful memories of that day are still so very real for me. But, the absolute joy I got ...
A Note from NCFA: Adoption by the Numbers has now been updated! Please visit adoptioncouncil.org/numbers to see the 2022 report. Adoption: By the Numbers National Council For Adoption's Adoption:...
Weaving Hope Into Heartache – A Parent’s Perspective If you’re an adoptive parent like me who has had the benefit of training and education rooted in TBRI, then you know how essential Th...
It's not often that you remember exactly where you were when reading a book more than 13 years ago, but I do remember reading a manuscript of Dr. Karyn Purvis' The Connected Child. I was on a...
Updated for Fall 2022 When educators and parents work together to support adopted children in the classroom, great things can happen! But this requires both teachers and parents to be properly inf...
The adoption process for expectant parents is different from state to state and across different adoption agencies, but most infant adoptions follow a similar process. Here are the steps you can ex...
Update for the 2021 Tax Year (returns filed in 2022): Recent changes to the Child Tax Credit supersede the guidance previously outlined below. Adoptive parents who are waiting on a social security ...
NCFA member agency Hopscotch Adoptions submitted this guest post on behalf of a family who recently traveled to complete the adoption of their daughter Sofija from Serbia. As one of the first famili...
Scott Hamilton, Babe Ruth, Mike Tyson, Aaron Judge. All of these athletes have something in common, but it is not what you might think. Marilyn Monroe, Steve Jobs, Kristen Chenoworth, Faith Hil...
In honor of National Foster Care Month, NCFA has been sharing voices and perspectives on our blog and social media channels from former foster youth, foster and adoptive parents, and professio...
Home has taken on new meaning the past few weeks. We stay home to protect the broader community. We’re working from home. Having birthdays at home. And for many, a stable place to call home might ...
Breaking Jurisdictional Barriers in Older Child Adoptions from Foster Care She scanned the room of the various individuals who came to learn more about adoption from foster care, and after ...
In May, we recognize National Foster Care Awareness Month. In the same breath, we advocate for children in foster care who wait for adoptive families. To many, this duality can be confusing. Foster...
Having followed Tori on social media for awhile, I knew that she would have a unique perspective to share with the adoption community during National Foster Care Month, and she was kind enough ...
In today's blog post, NCFA's Development Team offers our member agencies, primarily nonprofit organizations, best practices and tips for effectively communicating with donors and fundraising in...
Our thanks to Lindsay Gilbert, of NCFA member agency Madison Adoption Associates, for sharing her perspective during this time of crisis, as an adoption professional and waiting parent. It’s ...
The global spread of COVID-19 has significantly impacted travel for adoptions from China since early February. With growing concern about international travel in general and its impact on adopt...
NCFA is celebrating 40 years of advocating for children, birth families, and adoptive families. We continue to see adoption practice evolve, including new or expanded opportunities for famil...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released their Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System data for FY 2018, capturing data from October 1, 2017, to September ...
Last week, the U.S. Department of State highlighted their travel advisory for China to "Level 2." Since that time, adoption agencies have reported that families considering travel to China have b...
Words matter so much, especially when we’re speaking about something as deeply personal as adoption. Accurate adoption language can help stop the spread of misconceptions about adoption and reflec...
It is critically important that parents who have adopted through intercountry adoption keep their promises and submit post-adoption reports as they committed to during the adoption process. NCFA bel...
Thirty years of research shows that positive interactions between a child and primary caregiver(s) significantly impacts brain development. Studies show that children raised in family-based care (b...
how to adopt Considering adoption? You probably have a lot of questions. How does the process work? Do I qualify? What are the options? How can I afford adoption? Isn't it really expensive? Who d...
I can’t remember when I realized I was adopted. I have always felt a part of my family, even though I don’t have the same skin color as them. Yet, it wasn’t until I got older that I realized o...
Introduction–What is a Third Culture Kid? Third culture kid (TCK) refers to children raised in a culture outside of their biological culture for a significant part of their developmental years.1 ...
When considering intercountry adoption, prospective adoptive parents will hear countries often referred to as "Hague Countries" and "Non-Hague Countries". These can also be called "Convention Count...
In recognition of the extraordinary leadership that has resulted in measurable progress towards addressing the crisis our nation faces, with more than 100,000 U.S. children in foster care who need p...
What is open adoption? Today, a significant majority of domestic infant adoptions are "open adoptions" in that birth parents and adoptive parents have agreed to engage in some level of communicatio...
In my previous blog, I talked about the negative impact that abuse and neglect can have on a child's brain development. I emphasized the great benefit that a long-term caregiver and a forever home ...
November is National Adoption Month! Exciting, right? We think so. An entire month devoted to raising awareness about the positive option of adoption, the thousands of children (104,000 to be exact)...
