Many child welfare systems license hundreds of families who only want to adopt infants. These families aren't always needed, and licensing and maintaining them consumes valuable staff time and money. Instead, focus on recruiting foster families who will help reunite children and youth with their families, or provide permanency for older youth and sibling groups.

How to do this

Update your recruitment materials, messaging, and inquiry forms to emphasize fostering over adoption. Remove references to adoption from your inquiry form. When choosing photos for your adoption materials, show children who actually need adoptive homes and remove or replace photos or references to babies and toddlers. For families who only want to adopt, create an email and letter template that redirects them to children and youth who are legally-free and need families.

Train staff to set expectations with families who want to foster to adopt. Caseworkers should have multiple conversations about what families can expect. They should also clarify that fostering isn't right for families who only want to adopt an infant.

This strategy in action

Montgomery County, MD’s statute states “our purpose is to meet the needs of the kids in our community” and they have no children awaiting adoption. They use this statute to politely decline families who are only interested in adoption.

Washington, D.C. sets expectations during orientation. They tell families that they haven’t had a legally-free infant available in over a decade. They also remind families that the agency is not an adoption agency.

Indiana maintains clear messaging with potential foster families and staff that everyone’s role is to support family reunification.

Resources