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How to Foster and Adopt

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Watch this video to learn about the seven basic steps to adoption and foster care. The video is an excerpt from The Road to Adoption and Foster Care film produced by Rich Newman in association with AdoptUsKids. Watch the entire film


Please note: The steps in this video and the time it takes to complete them will vary depending on the agency you are working with and the state where you live. Use our interactive map to find out more about state specific guidelines.




The Seven-Step Journey to Foster or Adopt

Find out more about these steps by reading our Family Pocket Guide (1.3 MB PDF) that includes a checklist and other resources.



Step 1: Decide if you want to find out more

This is where you, the prospective adoptive parent, have made a phone call to the agency, spoke with a social worker or are serious about wanting to get more information about foster care or adoption.


What you need to do

After contacting an agency, you need to decide whether or not you want to find out more about the foster and adoption process. If you haven’t contacted an agency in your area yet, request to be contacted.



Step 2: Attend an orientation meeting

The orientation meeting is where you will find out more about:


  1. The children who need care
  2. The role and responsibilities of foster and adoptive parents
  3. The process you will need to go through
  4. The next steps you will have to take on the journey to becoming a foster or adoptive parent

During orientation, you may hear for the first time the real challenges involved with fostering and adopting. You will hear things such as:


  • These children have had a tough journey of their own
  • The importance of birth parent(s) to their children
  • The need to go through background checks
  • The length of the process

What you need to do


  1. Show up with an open heart and mind
  2. Ask questions and listen carefully to what the presenters say
  3. Take notes on things like:
    1. What you will have to do to be approved or licensed as a foster or adoptive parent
    2. Who your important contacts are
    3. When the next meetings will happen

At this point in the journey, you may become conflicted as your emotions rise to the surface. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and be prepared to open your heart and mind to what is being said. You don’t have to make any major decisions right now. The only decision you need to make is whether or not you want to continue the journey to step three.



Step 3: Complete pre-service training

This is where you attend a pre-service training program that takes four to 10 sessions to complete depending on your agency.


Sessions are designed to:


  1. Prepare you for fostering or adopting
  2. Create a basis for teamwork between yourself and the agency
  3. Challenge you to grow and develop as a resource parent
  4. Help you consider the following questions:
    1. Is fostering/adopting for me?
    2. Am I able to parent a child who has been neglected and/or abused?
    3. What type of child can I successfully parent?

What you need to do


  1. Make the commitment to attend and actively participate in the training sessions
  2. Give careful consideration to the information presented
  3. Come prepared to ask questions
  4. Devote time to consider the full impact of on your family for fostering or adopting
  5. Gain the necessary information to make a personal decision about whether to become an adoptive or foster parent
  6. Gain knowledge of what type of child you can best parent

During this step, you will probably start the application process and provide references, background information, finger printing, etc. Also, you will have made new friends with other prospective parents, staff and experienced resource parents. You will start to see yourself as part of an enthusiastic, hard-working and competent team. You are not in this by yourself!



Step 4: Apply to foster and/or adopt

Please note: Some agencies will have you complete this step before pre-service training in step three.


This is where you will complete the application and go over it carefully with your assigned social worker.


Each applicant’s file generally includes reference letters from employers (if applicable) and personal friends, family fact sheets and criminal record checks, and other information.


What you need to do


Applicants for foster care or adoption are responsible for:

  • Being open and honest in filling out the applications and during the personal interviews
  • Supplying the necessary information completely and accurately and as fast as possible
  • Cooperating with the criminal background check and protective service checks
  • Asking for help if you don’t understand something (It’s better to take a little longer to fill out the application correctly)
  • Agreeing to maintain confidentiality about the child and their birth family, and to provide, nurturing, safe and affectionate care for the child

Step 5: Complete a mutual assessment and homestudy

This is when the agency licensing or family worker meets with you in your home to talk about your:

  • Personal history
  • Family relationships
  • Reasons for wanting to foster or adopt
  • Support systems you have available to you.

The worker will determine whether your home is safe and has sufficient space for a foster or adopted child. The point of this step is to help you and the agency make the best possible decisions about whether placement of a child in your home will out, and the characteristics of the children whom you are most able to parent.


What you need to do


Applicants for foster care or adoption are responsible for:

  • Getting agreement among the members of their household to proceed with the process
  • Cooperating with the homestudy and the home visits
  • Ensuring that all necessary information is supplied completely and accurately
  • Meeting with experienced foster and adoptive parents if you have not done so already

Don’t be afraid to ask for the help you need to be qualified. You can even ask to delay this step if you feel you or members of your household are not yet ready.


If you are not ready or are not able to be licensed for fostering or adoption, please consider other roles. You have valuable abilities that can be put to work for children. Consider work as a community volunteer, respite worker, office assistant, tutor or mentor to teens, babysitter or assistant recruiter. Discuss these options and others you may think of with your social worker.



Step 6: Receive licensing and approval

This is a time of waiting for you. You may be waiting for the licensing or family worker to complete your background checks and review the various pieces of information you provided.


The agency will have to complete a written assessment, also known as a homestudy, and other licensing/approval paperwork. All of this takes time.


What you need to do

During this step of your journey, try to be patient. You may be having a hard time understanding why it takes so long to complete the paperwork, or concerned about what has been put in the record about you and your household.


Now is a good time to:
  • Contact your local foster and adoptive parent group to attend a meeting
  • Ask to review a copy of your homestudy so you can look it over and correct any inaccuracies
  • Be prepared for a bit of a wait as this process can take time
  • Do further reading or networking with other foster and adoptive parents
  • Use you agency to answer questions and help solve problems

Step 7: Have a child placed in your home

Congratulations! You’ve been approved and are ready to proceed to the next step in this journey—placement. This is where your agency and you work to assure the right match between yourself and the particular needs of a child or sibling group. Requirements will differ at this stage depending on whether a child is placed with you for foster care or adoption.


What you need to do

Licensed foster and pre-adoptive parents have a responsibility to the child, the child’s birth parents, and the sponsoring agency for:

  • Making sure you have the necessary information to make an informed decision about placement
  • Providing a safe, nurturing, stable environment for the child
  • Providing humane and affectionate care
  • Assuring that religious training appropriate to the child’s denomination be respected
  • Assuring that the emotional, medical, dental and educational needs of the child are met
  • Reporting any changes related to the child’s care and/or your family’s composition to your family social worker
  • Promoting physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth and development of each child in your care
  • Maintaining confidentiality
  • Cooperating with your agency, especially in treatment planning for the child
  • Respecting the foster child’s feelings for their birth family
  • Supporting the child’s visiting plan with their birth parents, siblings, or others when applicable

Learn more

AdoptUsKids collaborates with foster/adoption contacts for all 50 U.S. states and for the U.S. territories. We also have AdoptUsKids contacts who can provide information about adopting if you live outside of the U.S. and wish to adopt a child from U.S. foster care.


If you have questions about foster care or the adoption process, or if you need help getting started, please call AdoptUsKids at 1-888-200-4005, email info@adoptuskids.org or request to be contacted so that someone may assist you.