The Service Tree lists all services in "branched" groups, starting with the very general and moving to the very specific. Click on the name of any group name to see the sub-groups available within it. Click on a service code to see its details and the providers who offer that service.
Adoption Services
Adoption Counseling and Support
Programs that provide guidance and support for people who have adopted a child or are involved in the process of adopting a child.
Programs that assess the needs and capabilities of children who have been relinquished for adoption, compile the children's social and medical histories, make arrangements for care and supervision of the children prior to placement, evaluate prospective adoptive applicants including a review of adoptive home studies, if available, and select and approve prospective adoptive homes.
Adoption Information/Referrals
Programs that provide information about the different types of adoption that are available as options and the requirements and procedures for adopting another individual for birth parents, adoptive parents and people who have been adopted. Included are programs that facilitate the adoption process by compiling information about children who are available for adoption in sharable formats such as photo albums, newsletters, video tapes or media campaigns (e.g., newspaper stories or television segments) that feature a particular adoptable child; and arranging activities such as picnics where prospective adoptive parents and children can meet informally. Also included are programs that provide referrals to organizations that offer adoption-related services a family might need.
Programs that meet with individuals who wish to adopt a child to evaluate the home environment in which the adopted child would reside and establish the suitability of the individuals to become adoptive parents. The studies explore people's reasons for wanting to adopt, their personalities, habits, life experiences and parenting ability or potential as a means of determining the kind of child best suited for placement in their home.
Programs that specialize in handling adoptions for specific populations (e.g., children with special needs, foreign-born infants/children, or adoptions in which the race/cultural background of the child and the adopting parents are different); and/or adoptions in which there are arrangements for exchange of information and contact between birth families and adoptive families prior to the adoption and/or after the adoption has been finalized (in contrast to traditional or closed adoptions in which no information is shared and adoption information is confidential).