Adoption and Foster Care
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Adoption Links -
Compiled by Kerry Sullivan
Kinship Center
http://www.kinship.org
The Kinship Center has it's headquarters in Monterey, California. The center is designed to
provide services and support to children and families in California. The Kinship Center provides
specialized foster family care, mentoring programs, and advocacy for children. The services
provided are available to birth parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, and extended family
members. The Kinship Center has also developed educational videos and publications that are used
nationally.
National Center for Children in Poverty
http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nccp
The National Center for Children in Poverty mission statement includes the task of
identifying and promoting strategies that would prevent children in poverty. The NCCP site contains
information on media resources, state information, publications, and statistics regarding children
in poverty.
Administration on Aging
http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov
The number of grandparents raising grandchildren has grown significantly over the last two
decades. The Administration on Aging recognizes this fact and provides information on resources
that are available to the grandparent(s). State and local agencies have developed programs and
services to assist the grandparent caregiver. The website provides phone numbers to call for
assistance.
Urban Institute
http://newfederalism.urban.org
The Urban Institute website offers information regarding State policies for assessing and
supporting kinship foster parents. There is information on the site regarding the issues
surrounding kinship foster care, like licensing and subsidies. The website contains publications,
research studies and projects regarding the issue of kinship care.
Silveroze - Kinship Care
http://www.adopting.org
The website Adopting.org provides the user with information regarding adoption assistance
information and support. The site can link the user up to additional adoption resources. The site
also highlights waiting families and gives brief background information on the family. A user can
register with the site in order to be notified of new information and newsletters. There is also
information on how to search for birth parents on this website.
North American Council on Adoptable Children
http://www.nacac.org
The North American Council on Adoptable Children was founded in 1974 and is dedicated to
meeting the needs of the children who are waiting to be adopted and the families who adopt these
children. The purpose of the North American Council on Adoptable Children is to assess the
effectiveness of adoption assistance programs across the country; to identify the families and
children who receive assistance; to analyze the impacts of various policies and practices on the
benefits received; and to highlights trends and identify areas of concern.
National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
http://www.calib.com/naic
The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse is a service of the Children's Bureau;
Administration on Children, Youth, and Families; the Administration for Children and Families; and
The Department of Health and Human Services. The NAIC provides information for professionals,
adoptees, birth relatives, and adoptive parents. The site offers information of laws regarding
adoption, publications, information on conferences, and statistics.
The Family Tree
http://www.homes4kids.org
Homes 4 Kids is a branch of The Family Tree Organization. The purpose of Homes $ Kids is to
first be an advocate for the best interests of the children who are without a permanent home, and
secondly, for the best interests of the birth and adoptive parents. The goal of Homes 4 Kids is to
work to provide permanence, safety, and love to children who are available for adoption. The site
features information on the legal issues and rights of those affected by adoption; the issues
related to special needs adoptions; information about the adoption process; the availability of
post-adoption services; and kinship adoptions.
Pact: An Adoption Alliance
http://www.pactadopt.org
Pact is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1991 by adoptive parents in order to
protect the best interests of the adoptive child. Pact provides educational events to make the
public aware of the adoption process, crisis consultations for those affected by adoption, and
support to those who need it. Pact supplies post-adoption services to birth parents as well as for
adoptive families. The Pact site offers links to additional sites. The site provides the user with
information on upcoming events, new programs, and articles. There is also a toll free number
provided on the site specifically for transracial adoptive parents.
Kinship Care Practice Project
http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/college/kincare/
The purpose of the Kinship Care Practice Project is to assist in achieving permanency for
children who are in kinship foster care. The project is eight years old. The members of the project
developed a curriculum, complete with training manuals and tapes, to concentrate on facilitating
permanency for children in kinship care. The project provides training workshops for child welfare
agencies, child advocates, administrators, and faculty of social work schools. The training covers
six main areas, each has smaller sub-topics: context of practice in kinship foster care;
sociocultural context of kinship foster care, substance abuse and its impact on families; convening
a kinship care network; decision making, family empowerment; and developing permanency plans.
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