Adoption Services

Adoption is the method by law to establish the legal relationship of parent and child between persons who are not so related by birth, with the same mutual rights and obligations that exist between children and their birth parents. The primary purpose of adoption is to help children whose parents are incapable of assuming or continuing parental responsibilities to become part of a new family. Program services include: initiation of legal termination of or accept relinquishment of parental rights; report to the court on progress and well being of children placed for adoption, and fulfill related court orders; place and integrate children into adoptive families; monitor adoptive placements, complete adoption searches, complete Orders for Report to the Court and independent adoption studies for families; counsel women on problem pregnancy situations; provide post-adoptive services; and operate, monitor, and maintain Adoption Assistance for children with special needs.