What are the goals of this website?

1. To allow prospective adoptive parents to view some of the thousands of children who are available for adoption in the United States.

2. To connect licensed prospective adoptive parents to the caseworkers responsible for individual children listed on this site.

3. To connect prospective parents who are new to the process of adoption and/or foster care to state-based teams who can support them through the licensing process.

4. To provide basic information on adoption and foster parenting.

Who registers the children on AdoptUsKids?

Each state develops their own process for registering and managing child cases on AdoptUsKids.org.

How often are photolistings updated?

Caseworkers are encouraged to update a child’s profile annually. If a child’s information is not updated in a 12 month period, the worker is notified and the child’s photolisting is put on hold until it is updated.

Can I contact a child's caseworker to get more information?

You must have a current homestudy (a document about your family that the caseworker writes as part of the process to license your family to adopt or foster) and be registered on AdoptUsKids.org to inquire about children and contact the caseworker. To get started on the adoption licensing process, request to be contacted by a family advocate in your state. If you already have a homestudy, you can register on this website for free. Registered families can inquire about children and view contact information for the caseworker.

How do I inquire about a child or sibling group photolisted on AdoptUsKids.org?

If you are registered on AdoptUsKids you can inquire using a feature of the site that posts a message to the caseworker's account indicating your interest in the child or sibling group. The caseworker can respond by posting a message to your account.

How long does it take for an inquiry to be answered?

AdoptUsKids encourages children's caseworkers to respond promptly to inquiries. Each state sets their own policy for the time and procedure for contacting families. Some workers manage their cases on a daily basis and are very prompt in responding to inquiries from prospective parents. Some caseworkers may only respond to families they feel are appropriate for a specific child because of the large number of inquiries that they receive. If you do not get a response to your inquiry it may be that the child has been placed and the worker has not updated the status.

What can I do if the caseworker doesn't respond after requesting my homestudy?

Most caseworkers prefer that you send your homestudy only if they request it. Some will not acknowledge the receipt of the homestudy unless, after reviewing your homestudy, you are actually being considered as a family for the child. If you do not hear from the caseworker in roughly a week after they would have received it, it is reasonable to contact them by phone or email. For more information about the process caseworkers use to select families for children, please see Finding a Fit that Will Last a Lifetime: A Guide to Connecting Adoptive Families with Waiting Children. Please keep in mind that most families inquire on many children before they are selected for a child.