The Service Tree lists all services in "branched" groups, starting with the very general and moving to the very specific. Click on the name of any group name to see the sub-groups available within it. Click on a service code to see its details and the providers who offer that service.
Adoption Services
Adoption Counseling and Support
Programs that provide guidance and support for people who have adopted a child or are involved in the process of adopting a child.
Programs that assess the needs and capabilities of children who have been relinquished for adoption, compile the children's social and medical histories, make arrangements for care and supervision of the children prior to placement, evaluate prospective adoptive applicants including a review of adoptive home studies, if available, and select and approve prospective adoptive homes.
Adoption Information/Referrals
Programs that provide information about the different types of adoption that are available as options and the requirements and procedures for adopting another individual for birth parents, adoptive parents and people who have been adopted. Included are programs that facilitate the adoption process by compiling information about children who are available for adoption in sharable formats such as photo albums, newsletters, video tapes or media campaigns (e.g., newspaper stories or television segments) that feature a particular adoptable child; and arranging activities such as picnics where prospective adoptive parents and children can meet informally. Also included are programs that provide referrals to organizations that offer adoption-related services a family might need.
Programs that meet with individuals who wish to adopt a child to evaluate the home environment in which the adopted child would reside and establish the suitability of the individuals to become adoptive parents. The studies explore people's reasons for wanting to adopt, their personalities, habits, life experiences and parenting ability or potential as a means of determining the kind of child best suited for placement in their home.
Programs that help individuals who were relinquished for adoption as children to locate their birth parents and/or assist birth parents to locate the children they once placed for adoption.
Relinquishment for Adoption Assistance and Support
Programs that provide information, assistance and support for birth parents who wish to voluntarily terminate their parental rights to a child and provide consent for adoption. The program may offer assistance with the legal process and paperwork, the selection of the adoptive parent(s) for the child, paternity and fathers' rights and other similar issues as well as relinquishment counseling or other forms of support which address the emotional side of the process (including feelings of fear, grief, loss and sadness) during the relinquishment process and following relinquishment, as needed. In many cases, parental rights are transferred to an adoption agency rather than directly to new adoptive parents so that the agency can maintain the level of confidentiality and privacy that the parties desire and have agreed to in the adoption. The agency passes the parental rights to the adopting parents. Laws governing consent and relinquishment vary by jurisdiction. In some areas, relinquishment is a judicial process, taking place in court; in others, papers can be signed in front of agency representatives, a notary, or other designated person. Other differences include whether relinquishment terminates parental rights or is just part of the process, whether relinquishment papers can be signed prior to the birth of the child or within a specified time following birth, the conditions under which relinquishment can be revoked, and the conditions under which a pending adoption may be interrupted beyond the time allowed for revocation. The term "relinquishment" also applies to the document that birth parents sign as part of the relinquishment process.
Programs that specialize in handling adoptions for specific populations (e.g., children with special needs, foreign-born infants/children, or adoptions in which the race/cultural background of the child and the adopting parents are different); and/or adoptions in which there are arrangements for exchange of information and contact between birth families and adoptive families prior to the adoption and/or after the adoption has been finalized (in contrast to traditional or closed adoptions in which no information is shared and adoption information is confidential).