General recruitment broadcasts the need for foster and adoptive parents by building public interest and awareness. It focuses on drawing in a wide variety of families while setting the stage for more targeted recruitment. Examples include billboards, public service announcements, radio and advertising, agency publicity and hosting events during National Adoption Month in November and National Foster Care Month in May.

Ideas from the Field

The programs and initiatives highlighted below include ideas and examples of successful efforts from the field. Some of these initiatives have ended while others are still active. We are continually adding to this list as new strategies emerge. Check back soon for more great ideas on recruiting and retaining foster, adoptive and kinship parents.

• Five-Year Resource Family Recruitment Plan (171 KB PDF): Los Angeles County, the National Foster Parent Association and Family to Family collaborated on a Model Five-Year Recruitment Plan. Specific goals of this project over the five years (2005-2009) include increasing the number of inquiries by 15 percent annually and increasing the number of new foster and adoptive families by 7 percent annually. Some strategies mentioned to help achieve these objectives include building public-private partnerships, file mining and creation of a Heart Gallery. Source: Los Angeles County, National Foster Parent Association and Family to Family
  
  
• Adoption Day at the Mall: In Rhode Island, the idea to hold an adoption fair at a local mall came about through a recruitment taskforce where one person's connection with a local mall led to a great public information-sharing event. Malls present high traffic, family-oriented locations ideal for recruitment events. Held in conjunction with Rhode Island's first National Adoption Day, the event included 17 licensed foster and adoption agencies from around the state. Each agency staffed booths with representatives to field questions and distributed program and event information. Face painters helped lend a fun family atmosphere. Source: Adoption Rhode Island, RI DCYF & RI Family Court / Contact: Bernie Hicks, Adoption Rhode Island, bhicks916@aol.com
  
  
• "Journey Home" Bus Tour: To increase public awareness and generate exposure to the issue of children in foster care, several West Virginia organizations gave a bus tour for over 30 community leaders, including members of the media and state legislature. The "Journey Home" project, organized by Mission West Virginia, a faith-based adoption program, and with the assistance of other social service agencies, tried to recreate the experiences of a child in foster care. Stops were made at the local hospital emergency room, DHHR office and at the courts. Participants were often unaware of where they were going next and what was in store, mirroring the confusion and anxiety of children entering foster care. The day ended with a panel of speakers - foster and adoptive parents, social workers and an inspiring youth adoptee who was able to give his unique perspective on his experience of foster care. Due to the success of the tour, the story was picked up by television, radio and print outlets. Mission West Virginia is in the process of developing a manual to assist other groups that might be interested in holding a "Journey Home" tour in their community. Source: Mission West Virginia / Contact: Kelly Thompson, Mission WV 304.204.9898 or ococ@missionwv.org
  
  
• Wristbands Raise Awareness and Fund Scholarships: Sometimes one good idea leads to another. After seeing the popularity of the yellow wristbands promoting cancer awareness and funding cancer research, board members of the Arizona Association of Foster & Adoptive Parents thought the same principle might work to support foster children. In conjunction with May's National Foster Care Month, they ordered 10,000 blue wristbands, one for each of Arizona's 10,000 foster children. The bands were sold for $2 each and included a card informing the wearer what the band symbolized and directing them to additional information on the Association's webpage. All 10,000 bands were sold and the proceeds donated to Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation to fund scholarships for college-bound foster children. Source: Arizona Association of Foster & Adoptive Parents / Contact: Kris Jacober, AZ Assoc. of Foster & Adoptive Parents, 603.271.4711 or kris.jacober@cox.net
  
  
• Youth Advisory Board Training Video: Missouri's Independent Living Youth Advisory Board wrote and directed a videotape "What's It All about? Missouri's Youth Advisory Board Speaks Out on Foster Care." In the video, several foster youth are interviewed and give their honest takes on their experiences - the good and the bad - while in care. Missouri uses this tape during foster and adoptive parent pre-service training. Many important discussion topics around foster care and adoption naturally arise as a result of the video, such as youth being separated from their siblings, parent and social worker visits and their labeling as foster children. Source: Missouri DSS / Contact: Sally Gaines, Sally.Gaines@dss.mo.gov

Resources and Reports

AdoptUsKids

• Practitioner's Guide: Getting More Parents for Children from Your Recruitment Efforts (2.7 MB PDF): This guide summarizes promising practices in keeping families involved from their first contact with the Agency until a foster child is placed with them and points you to web pages and other sources of practice wisdom, so you can keep up to date on emerging thinking on the subject of recruitment to placement.
  
  
• Finding a Fit that Will Last a Lifetime: A Guide to Connecting Adoptive Families with Waiting Children (374 KB PDF): This guide helps you build your skills and become a matching artist. It focuses on best practices in matching waiting children in foster care with adoptive families by capturing what families, youth, caseworkers and researchers have learned to be the most effective ways of bringing waiting children and families together.
  
  
• Dollars and Sense: A Guide to Achieving Adoptions Through Public-Private Contracting (762 KB PDF): This guide provides public and private agency program managers, supervisors and contract managers with information that can help make the purchase of interjurisdictional adoption services truly work. It also serves as a starting point on purchase of service for States and Counties and the private agencies with which they work.
  
  
• Barriers and Success Factors in Adoption from Foster Care: Perspectives of Families & Staff (1.2 MB PDF): This report presents the findings of two research studies conducted by Dr. Ruth McRoy's research team at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Social Work Research. These studies were longitudinal and spanned the first five years of the AdoptUsKids project (2002-07). Findings from the two studies focused on barriers experienced by a nationwide group of families seeking to adopt children from the U.S. foster care system and factors which contribute to successful adoption outcomes for families adopting children from foster care.
  
  
• Family Pocket Guide: This guide is designed for prospective parents to help them understand and follow their individual journey throughout the process. English (1.2 MB PDF) and Spanish (1.3 MB PDF) versions are available.
  
  
• Selected Review of Foster Care & Adoption Recruitment Models and Strategies (63 KB PDF): This report from 2006 identifies resource material to guide the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive parents. Selections address systemic issues as well as concerete intervention strategies. Sources include studies and reports by government and private organizations, practice summaries, professional literature and internet sites. Brief summaries or abstracts are provided for each listing, along with an internet link to the full document when available. Also included are "Ideas from the Field," which are current examples of effective interventions as collected by AdoptUsKids.
  
  
• Case Planning Desk Reference for Emergency Situations (87.6 KB PDF): In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, states experienced circumstances that had never before been experienced in such magnitude and with such far-reaching impact. This event awakened the child welfare field to the need for more extensive planning for the future. As a result, the state of Louisiana asked AdoptUsKids to prepare a reference guide for their staff who might face future situations where children in care are displaced from the state or their parish of jurisdiction, from their birth parents, from their case workers and/or from the courts that held jurisdiction. The guide is intended to assist the worker in developing a well-informed recommendation to the court based upon thoughtful planning and sufficient information. It is not intended to make individual case decisions but rather to ensure critical elements are considered.


• A New Look at the Role of ASFA and Children's Ages in Adoption: Updated analysis on the impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) on the adoption of children from foster care can be found in the 2009 issue of the Roundtable newsletter published by the National Child Welfare Resource Center on Adoption. Author Penny Maza reviews data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) to address trends in numbers of children adopted, time to termination of parent rights and adoption, age related variation, rates of emancipation and other factors. Source: September 2009 issue of E-Notes

Federal Resources

• Profiles of the Child Welfare Demonstration Projects (618 KB PDF): As of May 2007, 15 States had active title IV-E waiver agreements, including several projects approved in March 2006 which had not yet been implemented at the time of this report. This report summarizes all current and completed waiver demonstrations and provides a brief description of the types of interventions undertaken in the demonstration projects as well as their current status. Source: Children's Bureau
  
  
• Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) Reports: Preliminary, interim and final reports detailing adoption and foster care statistics by federal fiscal year such as the number of children entering care, adoptions, etc. Source: Children's Bureau
  
  
• Recruiting Foster Parents (770 KB PDF): The purpose of this 2002 study was to assess States' efforts to recruit foster parents. Key findings highlight the challenges facing of States' recruitment programs and brief recommendations are given to address those areas. Source: Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General
  

Other Resources

• Foster Care Adoption in the United States: An Analysis of Interest in Adoption and a Review of State Recruitment Strategies: Conducted by the Urban Institute Child Welfare Research Program, this 2005 report provides a national overview of the state of adoption recruitment by examining motivations and interest levels in adoption, the types of people who take further steps and how such interest might be translated into foster care adoption. The report also provides some innovative child-specific, faith-based, diligent and targeted recruitment activities. Source: The National Adoption Day Coalition / Contact: National Adoption Day, 202.572.2993; The Urban Institute, 202.833.7200

Online Resources

• Child Welfare Information Gateway
• National Resource Center for Adoption
• National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections

For additional resources on recruitment and retention of foster, adoptive and kinship parents, see our publications for professionals or find out more about targeted recruitment.