Presented by:

Marie Dolfi, LCSW

Volunteer Advocacy Chairperson, NYSCCC

On April 9, 1912, the U.S. Children’s Bureau became the first national government agency in the world to focus solely on the needs of children. During the past 100 years, the Children’s Bureau has played a critical role in addressing vital issues affecting families—from reducing infant mortality and eradicating child labor, to preventing child maltreatment and promoting permanency for children and youth.

This report is the first in a series the Institute plans to publish that will address the phenomenon of openness in domestic infant adoptions. It summarizes research knowledge on the topic and presents findings from a survey of 100 infant adoption programs in the U.S. regarding their practices around openness and the qualities that facilitate successful open adoption relationships. The institute is also in the final stages of preparing a related curriculum for pre-adoptive parents and expectant parents considering adoptive placement for their children.

Policy & Practice Perspectives are research-based publications that focus on important and timely issues in the field. This report was researched and written by Dr. Deborah H. Siegel, Professor of Social Work, Rhode Island College, and Susan Livingston Smith, Program and Project Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. It was edited by Adam Pertman, Executive Director of the Institute. We are deeply grateful to several graduate student interns who assisted with this research – Rebecca Knickmeier, Sarah Malloy-Good and Preeti Vissa. We also appreciate the assistance of several adoption scholars and professionals who reviewed this paper and provided research and editorial assistance. They include Dr. Ruth McRoy, Leslie Pate Mackinnon, and Dr. Harold Grotevant.

Send questions and comments to info@adoptioninstitute.org.

All contents (c) 2012 by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.

Many single people are choosing to adopt, reflecting national trends toward greater acceptance of nontraditional families. Nationally, approximately one-quarter of children and youth, or about 22 million, are growing up in single-parent households.  In 2011, nearly one-third of adoptions from foster care were completed by unmarried people. This included adoptions by 1,400 single men and more than 13,000 single women.  Several research studies have shown that adopted children raised by single parents experience outcomes that are as good as, if not better than, those for children adopted by couples.

For a variety of reasons, adopted individuals and their families are more likely to use mental health services than is the general population. Helping adoptive parents manage these life complexities for themselves and their children can be a challenge, often requiring the help of professionals. Adopted individuals, as children and through their life cycles, can encounter a range of concerns (e.g. ones related to identity) with which they want and need professional assistance. Furthermore, birth/first mothers and fathers also frequently need the services of mental health counselors as they struggle to cope with their loss and, for a growing number of these individuals, to find satisfying ways of managing ongoing relationships with their children and their adoptive families. Mental health and allied professionals must be prepared to meet the needs of these individuals and families. They must possess not only the foundations for competent clinical practice, but also a deep understanding of the unique issues involved.

Published by:

Policy Perspective
August 2013
Funded by: The Donaldson Adoption Institute

2025 State Trends in Child Well-Being
By the Annie E. Casey Foundation

This year’s KIDS COUNT Data Book presents a picture of child well-being as the nation recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparisons are made between 2019 and 2023 where possible.
During this time, six indicators worsened, while three stayed the same and seven improved. The child poverty rate dropped and the employment security of parents improved relative to 2019. At the same time, educational achievement was hit hard and the child and teen death rate climbed.

To access the report please click here

This guide shares information about the importance of fathers in the lives of their children, and it identifies potential consequences if they are not involved. It also offers strategies for systems and families, especially those who are involved in systems of care, to help fathers become more involved. Section I discusses statistics about the presence and absence of fathers in families.

There are approximately 175,000 youth ages 10–18 in foster care in the United States.1 Of these youth, an estimated 5–10 percent—and likely more—are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ).