The prospect of adopting a child can be both exciting and overwhelming. There are many different types of adoption and choices to be made in pursuing an adoption. This factsheet is an introduction to the many pathways to building a family through adoption. It provides a basic understanding of the different types of adoption and guides readers to relevant resources. It begins by describing the different types of adoption and goes on to discuss State laws governing adoption, choosing an agency or adoption services provider, completing the home study, being matched with a child, and completing the necessary legal documents.
Revised 2015

About 7.8 million children live in grandfamilies.  Some grandfamilies are multigenerational households where families pool resources and grandparents provide care so parents can work.  In others, grandparents or other relatives have stepped in to keep children out of foster care when parents are unable to care for them. Sometimes grandparents have stepped in and a parent may still be present and living in the household, but not providing for most of the basic needs of a child, such as a teen parent. In other instances, grandparents receive a call in the middle of the night from child protective services and become full-time, sole caregivers to their grandchildren in a matter of hours. While grandparents are more often the relative that steps in, these scenarios also play out with aunts, uncles, older
siblings, and even close family friends.

This booklet covers expenses common to most adoptions, expenses unique to the various types of adoption, financial assistance for adoption and post-adoption expenses, and tax breaks available to
adoptive parents.

Data can be an incredibly powerful tool for child welfare advocates, policymakers, and program administrators in their work to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families. From identifying target population characteristics and needs, to documenting program or service outcomes, to assessing a policy’s effect, using data to inform efforts to help children and families thrive is critical. Data can play an invaluable role in helping to highlight the need for a program, service, or policy, or to communicate about how a particular population is faring. They provide objective evidence to “make the case.”

The New Jersey Council for Young Children was established in January 2010 to ensure
collaboration and coordination among early childhood programs in the State of New Jersey.
The Birth-to-Eight Early Learning and Development Standards Committee of the Council
has responsibility for the development of a coherent set of early learning and development
and program standards that address all areas of development for ages birth through eight
that will lead to positive outcomes for infants, young children and their families.

Several common school assignments can make foster and adoptive children feel left out, uncomfortable,
sad, and hurt. Projects like the ‘Family Tree’, ‘Bring-a-Baby Picture’ and ‘Trace Your Genetic Traits’ can
be particularly difficult for students adopted at older ages; however, children adopted as infants and
those living in foster care may also lack the information for some family-based assignments.

Written by Legal Services of New Jersey .