1. How can I adopt a child via agency adoption? The first step is to contact your county’s Social Services Department for their orientation schedule. After you complete the orientation and application, the agency will assign an adoption caseworker to discuss with you the adoption process, the type of child you wish to adopt, and the children available. Agency procedures and requirements determine how long the process will take, but most require four to six months from the time of application to completion. Depending on the availability of appropriate children, placement may be immediate or take several months, or, in rare cases, years.

2. How do children in foster care become available for adoption? When a family in crisis cannot care for their children, those children are then put into the foster care system. When a child enters foster care in California, creating a safe, permanent home (“permanency”) for the child is the ultimate goal. This is usually achieved one of two ways: providing services to the birth family so the child can eventually return home, or by finding an alternative permanent family, either through placement with extended family or through adoption. Often, working towards birth family reunification and identifying other options for permanency are worked on at the same time. When it comes to children entering foster care, roughly one-third return to their birth families, one-third are placed with extended family, and one-third go to an adoptive family.

3. How much does it cost to adopt a child? A county adoption agency or the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) may require you to pay a $500 fee at the time it files a court report recommending that an adoption petition be approved. The county adoption agency or CDSS may defer, waive, or reduce the $500 fee under certain circumstances. Adoption fees charged by licensed private adoption agencies are not regulated by the state and will vary. As an adoptive parent, you may be eligible for financial help. The Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) provides financial and medical assistance to eligible children up to age 18, or age 21 if the child is disabled, who otherwise would remain in long-term foster care. The amount of assistance is dependent on the needs of the child and the family’s circumstances. Additionally, California Children’s Services are also available for physically challenged children at no cost to the adoptive parents if the physical challenge has been diagnosed at the time of adoption.

4. Can the biological parents take my adoptive child back? No. After the adoption is finalized, children cannot be taken from their adoptive parent(s).

5. What kinds of questions will be asked on the application? The application will request detailed personal and demographic information about you and other members of your household. Health and medical information must be supplied and a tuberculosis (TB) test is required. You and all members of your household over 18 must have a criminal background check and be fingerprinted. An applicant with a criminal record may be rejected.

 6. My partner and I work. Will I have to quit my job if I want to adopt? No. Both parents can work as long as appropriate childcare arrangements can be made.

 7. I don’t own my own home or I live in an apartment. Can I adopt? Yes. You don’t have to own a house to give a home to a child in need. You can rent or own as long as your home is safe and has enough room for family members. What is most important is the love, understanding, and guidance you can offer a child.

8. Can single parents adopt? Yes. Single men and women can adopt. In fact, approximately one-fourth of adopted children are adopted by single people.

9. Can gays and lesbians adopt? Yes. Sexual orientation is not a barrier to adopting or fostering.

10. I’m over forty. Am I too old to adopt? Not necessarily. As long as you are in good health and have the energy and desire to be a parent, age is not a factor. A 50 to 55-year-old person or couple may be perfect for the adoption of an older child.

11. I don’t want to be a foster parent. Why do I have to get a foster care license before I can adopt? Terminating biological parents’ rights is not something that is done lightly and often takes a long time. During this time, caseworkers work with biological parents to make sure the best thing is being done for each child. During that time, the child will be in your care, but as a foster child. You will receive the same training other foster parents get, as well as the same financial and medical help.

12. How can I adopt a child I have legal guardianship of (for instance, a stepchild or grandchild)? You can request that a case be reopened for a "more permanent plan", i.e. adoption, ONLY in the county where the dependency originated. There are guardianships granted through Probate Court, but the county Social Services Departments, in general, do not handle those cases.