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]

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]

The Office of Adoption Operations is a licensed adoption agency within the State of New Jersey, Department of Children and Families, Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P). The Office of Adoption Operations is approved to provide adoption services to children in the public child welfare system, which includes placing children into adoptive homes as… [read more]

A proactive guide for recognizing the warning signs and identifying children who may turn to violence. “STEP UP, TAKE ACTION” – When Does a Child Need Help? Dear Parents and Teachers of Elementary School Children, The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, made clear the urgent need to protect our children and… [read more]

Adopting a stepchild is the most common form of adoption. A stepparent who adopts agrees to become the legal parent and be fully responsible for his or her spouse’s child. After the stepparent adoption occurs, the noncustodial parent (the parent not living with the child) no longer has any rights or responsibilities for the child,… [read more]

The Student Loan Guide provides general student loan information to assist students and their families in planning and paying for a postsecondary education through the use of student loans. This guide contains information that covers the Federal Loan programs, New Jersey’s state loan program-NJCLASS, and information on other alternative private loan options. Our goal is… [read more]