Congratulations! Welcome to the journey of being an adoptive parent. As you get to know your child, you will realize what you don’t know! But not to worry, you aren’t alone. Take time to learn the skills to parent YOUR child. Connect with others who have similar experiences. Make time for yourself. The following articles… [read more]

Through these Recommended Practices, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and co-authors seek to provide guidance to the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), state and local child welfare agencies and their contract providers on how to fulfill their professional and legal obligations to ensure safe and proper care consistent with the best interest… [read more]

There are three types of Resource Family Care providers: foster, adoption, and kinship. Foster caregivers are individuals and families who voluntarily open their hearts and homes to become temporary parents to children in need of a home due to protective or other social service reasons. Adoptive caregivers provide permanent care for children whose parents have… [read more]

There are three types of Resource Family Care providers: foster, adoption, and kinship. Foster caregivers are individuals and families who voluntarily open their hearts and homes to become temporary parents to children in need of a home due to protective or other social service reasons. Adoptive caregivers provide permanent care for children whose parents have… [read more]

Today’s society is recognizing the experiences and needs of transgender people as never before. This trend is most evident in our nation’s schools, where an increasing number of transgender and gender-expansive students live openly as their authentic selves. At the same time, parents, students, educators, administrators and other stakeholders are working together to determine the… [read more]

Searching for Birth Relatives FACTSHEET FOR FAMILIES May 2018 Methods for searching for birth relatives or an adopted child have changed dramatically in recent years. Previously, many adoptions were closed, meaning no contact occurred between the birth and adoptive families, and no identifying information was made available to the adoptive family or the person who… [read more]

Adoption has a lifelong impact on those it touches, and members of adoptive families may want professional help when concerns arise. Timely intervention by a professional skilled in adoption, attachment, and trauma issues often can prevent concerns from becoming more serious problems. This factsheet offers information on the different types of therapy and providers available… [read more]

What’s inside: • Defining a sibling relationship • Legal framework for protecting sibling connections • The importance of siblings • Sibling relationships in abusive or neglectful families • Benefits of placing siblings together • Barriers to placing siblings together • Practices for keeping siblings together in placement • When siblings cannot live in the same… [read more]

Every State permits transfer of guardianship authority over a child from a parent to another adult when the child has no other parent available to assume responsibility for care and custody of the child. A traditional guardianship provides for the care of a child in the event of the parent’s death or permanent disability and… [read more]