One of my favorite sources of adoption information and adoption statistics has undergone an extreme makeover.
The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC) and the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information have merged and are now known as the Child Welfare Information Gateway.
The newly-redesigned Web site still contains the same useful information as before, only now there’s even more fantastic info at your fingertips. Since the site is a government service, coming to you courtesy of the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (try saying that three times, fast), you’ll have to wade through a bit of governmentese. But it’s not bad.
There’s information on the following:
- Child abuse and neglect (and prevention of abuse and neglect)
- Supporting and preserving families
- Foster care (which is now called out-of-home care)
- Achieving and maintaining permanency (through family reunification, adoption from foster care, guardianship, and permanent placements with relatives)
- Adoption
The adoption section includes the following information:
Overview
- The adoption process, frequently asked questions, and selected resources.
Types of adoption
- Domestic adoption, including foster care, kinship, infant, customary, and independent/private adoptions; intercountry adoption; and interjurisdictional placement.
For prospective adoptive parents
- How to adopt, the home study process, financial assistance, legal considerations, and potential challenges.
Foster care adoption
- Strategies and programs, recruiting and retaining foster/adoptive families, children waiting for adoption, legal issues and laws, and National Adoption Month.
Recruiting, preparing & retaining foster/adoptive parents
- Recruiting and retaining foster and adoptive parents, including specific populations.
Preparing & supporting children & youth
- Preparing and transitioning children and youth into permanent families, maintaining connections, talking about adoption, and school issues.
Supporting birth parents
- Information for birth family members on adoption planning and maintaining connections with children who are adopted. Information for professionals on supporting birth parents.
Postadoption services
- Adoption assistance, outcomes of postadoption services, and help for adoptive families, including understanding potential challenges and obtaining birth or adoption records.
Search & reunion
- Searching for birth relatives, obtaining birth and adoption records, understanding the impact of adoption, and finding support groups.
The Resources section of the site includes the following:
- State-by-state contact information for a variety of adoption-related organizations and services including public and licensed private adoption agencies, support groups, State reunion registries, and more.
- A Search feature for state statutes related to adoption (and other topics).
- A slew of statistics about adoption and foster care.
- Links to national organizations for adoption and foster care.
- Children’s Bureau Express, designed for professionals interested in the latest news about adoption.
For more news and information about adoption, please visit my Web site, www.laurachristianson.com.