A Bulletin for 

professionals

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Children’s Bureau

Child Welfare Information Gateway

Children’s Bureau/ACYF

1250 Maryland Avenue, SW

Eighth Floor

Washington, DC 20024

703.385.7565 or 800.394.3366

Email: info@childwelfare.gov

www.childwelfare.gov

The Basics of 

Adoption Practice

What’s Inside:

• Types of adoption

• Family assessment

• Child assessment

• Birth parent involvement

• Openness in adoption

• Matching families and children

• Sharing information with families

• Involving youth in their 

placements

• Placing children with families

• Prefinalization services

• Postadoption services

Adoption is a highly specialized field that 

focuses on placing children with families and 

providing services to ensure that these placements are permanent. In recent decades, the 

emphasis of adoption practice has shifted 

from helping families find children to finding 

safe and permanent families for children. 

Adoption workers are now expected to have 

extensive knowledge and understanding of 

the recruitment and assessment of adoptive 

families, the placement of children with a 

variety of strengths and needs, and supportive postadoption services to promote attachment and permanency for children. 

March 2006 Take our survey! Your comments 

 on this publication will help us 

 better meet your needs:

www.childwelfare.gov/survey/publications/index.cfm
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This bulletin provides an overview of the 

basics of adoption practice and the responsibilities of adoption workers. However, each 

State has its own laws and policies that regulate adoption, and there is significant variation 

from State to State. Workers are encouraged 

to become familiar with their own State laws 

and policies and to check with their supervisors or State Adoption Specialists for specifics. 

Types of Adoption

Most adoptions in the United States fall into 

one of three main categories, each of which 

requires somewhat different services and skills 

from the adoption worker:

• The adoption of children from the public 

foster care system by foster caregivers, kin, 

or adoptive parents chosen by the agency 

for the child

• The domestic adoption of infants who 

reside in the United States and are adopted 

through private adoption agencies or independently (depending on State law)

• Intercountry adoption of infants and children from other countries by U.S. citizens

Much of the discussion that follows applies 

to all three types of adoption. In some cases, 

especially those involving intercountry adoption, there will be less opportunity for the 

adoption worker to receive and provide information and services to the birth family, the 

adoptive family, or the child. 

Family Assessment

Assessment of the family is one of the earliest 

steps in the adoption process for the worker 

and the family. Often, this process is called 

the “home study.” It is a mutual process by 

which the worker and a prospective adoptive 

family determine the family’s appropriateness 

and readiness for adoption. The assessment 

process is strengths-based, with the intent to 

screen in applicants. It often includes:

• The relationship-building between the 

family and the worker or agency

• The adoption education and development 

of families

• The exploration of values, expectations, 

and motivations

• The family self-assessment of strengths and 

limitations

• The preparation of the family for placement

• The agency’s and worker’s determination of 

the safety and well-being of the prospective 

family placement for the children (Rycus 

and Hughes, 1998)

Agencies use a variety of assessment tools 

and opportunities, including individual and 

family interviews; preservice training and other 

group sessions; written autobiographies; and 

collateral contacts through references, credit 

reports, physical and mental health evaluations, driving records, and criminal record 

checks. The assessment will vary depending 

on the jurisdiction and the type of adoption, 

but its components will be similar. Often, the 

final assessment or home study is shared with 

the family.
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Prospective families should be assessed within 

their cultural context. Thus, adoption workers 

should strive to be culturally competent, so 

that they can relate to persons from diverse 

cultures in a sensitive, respectful, and productive way. To reduce the chance of misassessment, workers must consider different communication and interaction styles, nonverbal 

behaviors, differences in the use and meaning 

of specific words and phrases, family roles and 

relationships, and home environments.

What Areas Are Assessed?

Unlike home studies of the past (where the 

actual home was the focus), assessments consider personal and family characteristics that 

have been correlated with successful parenting of adopted children. Those include:

• The ability to provide safety and permanency for the child

• The motivation for and expectations of 

adoption 

• The personal and emotional maturity 

• The stability and quality of interpersonal 

relationships 

• The resilience, coping skills, and history of 

stress management 

• The ability to adapt 

• Parenting skills and abilities 

• Empathy 

• The belief that adoptive parents have full 

rights and responsibilities to parent a child 

not born to them 

• The ability to provide “hands-on” parenting 

• The willingness to make a lifelong 

commitment 

What Are the Outcomes of 

a Family Assessment? 

The final phase of the family assessment is to 

formalize the assessment’s conclusions and 

plan next steps. Because the family assessment is a collaborative process, the formal 

approval should evolve as part of the discussions between the worker and family and will, 

in most cases, be mutually determined by the 

family and agency. 

The possible outcomes from a family assessment include:

• The family is approved for adoption. 

This approval should include the age, sex, 

number, and type of child(ren) for which 

the prospective parent(s) is most suited. 

The family should be notified in writing 

and given information regarding their 

next steps. Families need to understand 

that receiving approval for adoption in 

general does not necessarily mean they are 

approved to adopt a specific child.

• The family is deferred. The family is not 

ready for adoption at this time. This decision may be made by either the family or 

the worker. It may be due to current circumstances (e.g., an unexpected pregnancy, 

health problem, or job change), unresolved 

issues from the past, or unclear or unrealistic expectations. If the worker makes the 

decision, the worker should provide the 

family with written documentation and offer 

concrete suggestions and referral sources 

to help rectify the situation. An open invitation may be left for the family to return to 

the agency when they are ready to move 

forward.

• The family is inappropriate to adopt. 

The worker has determined that the 
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family is ineligible to adopt because they 

cannot provide a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for an adopted child. 

This may include such factors as a felony 

record, active substance abuse, chronic 

mental instability or pathology, sexual 

disorders, or a substantiated history of 

abusing or neglecting children. The worker 

should provide the family with written 

documentation of this decision, citing 

specific examples. 

Deciding not to approve families is often difficult for most workers, so it is important to 

provide concrete, documented reasons why 

they are not being approved. These reasons 

should be linked directly to the parenting 

of an adopted child. Remember, denying or 

deferring a prospective family may prevent an 

adoption disruption or dissolution for a child 

in the future.

For resources on family assessment, go 

to the Child Welfare Information Gateway 

website section on Recruiting, Preparing, and 

Retaining Foster/Adoptive Parents at www.

childwelfare.gov/permanency/adoption/rpr/

index.cfm.

Child Assessment

In adoptions involving children or youth 

adopted from the foster care system, an 

adoption worker may be able to conduct an 

assessment of the child. (This worker may be a 

different person from the worker who assesses 

the family.) Gathering and giving full consideration to all available information about the 

child allows the agency to make the most 

appropriate selection of a permanent family 

and enables a prospective parent to make an 

informed decision about accepting a child. 

Assessing the child should involve:

• Knowing the whereabouts and legal status 

of the child’s siblings and the pros and cons 

for seeking an adoptive family who could 

keep the siblings together or reunite them 

if they have been temporarily separated 

from each other

• Developing an understanding of the child’s 

history, including involvement with the child 

welfare system

• Assessing current functioning and needs

• Identifying potential future needs

• Recognizing the long-term impact of abuse, 

neglect, or sexual victimization on the 

child’s development 

• Evaluating strengths and limitations

• Assessing the desire or readiness for 

adoption 

• Identifying the knowledge and skills that 

will be required to parent the child to adulthood effectively

• Identifying the extent of contact with birth 

relatives, including siblings (if they have 

not been placed together), and the level of 

openness that may be desired 

• Developing a sense of the type of family in 

which the child will best live and thrive

Sources of assessment information may 

include official records, medical reports, and 

interviews with people who know the child, 

developmental and personal information, and 

the child’s own interests. Older children and 

youth may be able to provide a great deal of 

information on their own interests, history, and 

resources within their family network.
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Workers can learn more about obtaining 

background information on children through 

the Information Gateway factsheet Obtaining 

Background Information on Your Prospective 

Adopted Child (www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/

f_background.cfm). 

For children assessed as not yet ready for 

adoption, specific activities can be used to 

involve and prepare them to join permanent 

families. Adoption workers or adoption-competent therapists may engage children in such 

activities as being photographed, preparing 

life books, and sorting out feelings. For many 

older youth, involving them in their own permanency planning can be key to overcoming 

their resistance to adoption. 

For more information on preparation and transition activities, see the Information Gateway 

factsheet Helping Your Foster Child Transition 

to Your Adopted Child at www.childwelfare.

gov/pubs/f_transition.cfm.

Birth Parent Involvement

Regardless of the circumstances that led to the 

placement of a child for adoption, many birth 

parents desire to be involved in the adoptive 

planning for their children. Traditionally, birth 

parents involved in voluntary placements have 

been allowed more active participation and 

decision-making responsibility than in nonvoluntary placements. These parents are often 

involved in preplacement counseling and 

planning, the provision of medical and social 

history, the selection of an adoptive family (a 

relatively new development), the determination of the level of ongoing contact with the 

adoptive family, and activities to help children 

understand the transition to adoption.

Current adoption practice may include 

similar kinds of birth family involvement, 

even in cases of nonvoluntary placement. 

Nonadversarial adoption planning is in the 

best interests of the child and the birth family. 

If appropriate, birth parents who did not voluntarily place their children may still have an 

important role in the provision of medical and 

social history, the placement process, providing necessary closure for the child, decisionmaking about future contact, and beginning 

their own grieving process.

Birth parent services. Most birth parents grieve 

the loss of their role as the child’s primary 

parents. In many types of adoption, there are 

services to help birth parents. Depending 

on the adoption worker’s role and the type 

of agency, services to birth parents may be 

integral to the adoption process (as with many 

private agencies), may be conducted by child 

welfare workers (as with some public and 

private agencies), or may be essentially nonexistent (as with many intercountry placements 

or private adoptions completed without the 

involvement of a social services agency). The 

goals of these services are to:

• Empower birth parents to have as much 

input as possible in plans for their child

• Assist the birth parents in maintaining their 

dignity and self-worth throughout the adoption process

• Ensure that the main focus is the child and 

his or her best interests

• Help birth parents make responsible decisions throughout pregnancy, parenting, or 

adoption planning

• Acknowledge the parental role in cases of 

involuntary placement and to garner their 

assistance in gathering pertinent informa-
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tion, preparing the child, and assisting the 

agency in adoption planning for the child

• Facilitate communication (and mediation, 

if necessary) among members of the birth 

parents’ extended families and between 

birth and adoptive families, as appropriate

• Help the birth parent understand, accept, 

and manage the pain of an adoption decision, whether that decision is made by the 

parent or by the court

Information about how adoption affects birth 

parents can be found in the Information 

Gateway factsheet Impact of Adoption on 

Birth Parents, available at www.childwelfare.

gov/pubs/f_impact/index.cfm.

Openness in Adoption

Openness in adoption refers to the continuum of relationships that can exist between 

members of the birth family and the adoptive 

family, including the child. This continuum runs 

from closed adoption, in which no identifying 

information is shared between the birth family 

and the adoptive family, to fully open adoption in which the child and adoptive family 

have an ongoing relationship with members 

of the birth family. Even in closed adoptions, 

nonidentifying medical information is generally provided, although this may be minimal 

for some intercountry adoptions.

For more information on openness in adoption, refer to the Information Gateway bulletin 

Openness in Adoption at www.childwelfare.

gov/pubs/f_openadoptbulletin.cfm.

Successful adoption relationships always focus 

on the needs of the child. Adoption professionals work with birth and adoptive parents 

to enhance their ability to maintain this focus. 

Some key factors to consider in facilitating 

an open adoption relationship include the 

following:

• What level of openness is appropriate and 

safe for all parties?

• How will changes in the nature of the relationship be negotiated over time?

• Can the adoptive parents set appropriate 

boundaries?

• Does the birth parent recognize and 

support the adoptive parent as the parent?

Matching Families 

and Children

The goal of a careful matching process is to 

ensure the most appropriate fit between the 

needs of the child and the strengths of the 

family. In the case of domestic infant adoption or placement of children from foster care, 

matching is the task of reviewing the assessments of prospective families along with those 

of available children to determine the best 

family to provide safety, permanency, and well 

being for a specific child or sibling group. 

The selection of a potential adoptive family 

should be a collaborative effort between the 

child’s social worker, foster parents or current 

caretakers, the adoptive family’s assessment 

worker, adoptive parents, other professionals, and, in some instances, the birth family 

and the child. In seeking families for children, 

workers should first explore families to which 

the child already has some attachment (e.g., 

relatives or current or previous foster care-
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givers). This may be particularly important 

for older youth. If no appropriate resources 

for the child exist within the child’s current 

network, “matched” families (nonrelative 

families unknown to the child) should be considered to meet the child’s needs for adoptive 

placement. 

In intercountry adoption, there may be fewer 

opportunities for matching by the adoption 

worker. In some cases, the selection and 

matching may be done in the child’s birth 

country rather than by the U.S. agency. Some 

agencies provide referrals so that the U.S. 

agency selects the child to be offered to a 

family. The family then accepts the referral or 

waits for another referral.

What Makes a Good Match? 

Consider the following factors:

• Does the family have the skills, abilities, 

knowledge, and desire to parent the child? 

• Does the family possess the emotional 

and financial resources to meet the child’s 

needs? Do they know how to access them?

• Is the family’s lifestyle compatible with that 

of the child? 

• Does the family have specific experience 

with needs similar to those of the child?

• Are the parents willing to learn more about 

caring for this child’s needs?

• Does the family feel that this is the right 

child for them and that their existing 

structure can grow and adapt to meet the 

child’s needs?

• Does the family have a network of family, 

friends, and professionals to provide emotional support for the adoption?

There is a range of possibilities between a 

good and poor match. In most matches, the 

family is a good match for some of the child’s 

issues, a minimal match for some, and a poor 

match for others. It is imperative that the 

family be a good match for the child’s most 

critical needs or issues. Additionally, prospective parents should be highly motivated to 

develop the necessary knowledge and skills to 

meet all the child’s needs.

Legal Considerations in Matching

There is overarching legislation that guides 

practice and may impact matching, including 

the following: 

• The Adoption and Safe Families Act

(ASFA) of 1997 supports permanency for 

children by reducing timeframes for courts 

and child welfare agencies in working 

toward permanency outcomes (family 

reunification, kin placements, or adoption) 

for children in foster care. ASFA shortened 

the timeframe for children’s permanency 

and shifted the focus to safety for children. 

For the text of ASFA, visit http://frwebgate.

access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPad

dress=162.140.64.21&filename=publ89.

pdf&directory=/diskc/wais/data/105_cong_

public_laws. For comments on practice 

issues, go to www.abanet.org/child/

tenprereqs.html.

• The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 

1978 is Federal legislation that regulates 

the placement of Native American children. 

ICWA grants jurisdiction to the tribe in the 

removal and placement of Native American 

children. For the text of ICWA, visit the 

National Indian Child Welfare Association 

at http://www.nicwa.org/policy/law/icwa/

index.asp. For a discussion of practice 
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issues, go to www.abanet.org/genpractice/

lawyer/complete/f95child.html. 

• The Interstate Compact on the Placement 

of Children (ICPC) is a binding contract 

between 52 member jurisdictions (all 50 

States, the District of Columbia, and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands) that establishes uniform 

legal and administrative procedures governing the interstate placement of children. 

The ICPC is based on the premise that children placed across State boundaries should 

receive the same benefits and services 

as if they remained in their home States. 

General ICPC information can be obtained 

by linking to http://icpc.aphsa.org. A guide 

to the ICPC can be found at http://icpc.

aphsa.org/documents/Guidebook_2002.

pdf. 

• The Multi-Ethnic Placement Act (MEPA) 

was enacted in 1994 and amended by the 

Interethnic Placement Amendment (IEP) 

in 1996 to eliminate discriminatory practices that denied children permanency and 

discouraged applicants from becoming 

foster and adoptive parents. The foundation for MEPA is the Civil Rights Act of 

1964 that prohibits recipients of Federal 

financial assistance from discriminating in 

their programs and activities based on race, 

color, or national origin. The law prohibits 

the delay or denial of a child’s placement 

or an individual’s ability to adopt on the 

basis of race, color, or national origin. It also 

requires agencies to recruit potential foster 

and adoptive families that reflect the diversity of children in care. 

Violations of MEPA carry financial sanctions. If a social worker in either a public or 

private agency violates MEPA, the entire 

State can lose a portion of title IV-E funding 

for every quarter they are out of compliance. In addition, State departments can 

impose sanctions on any agency, including a corrective action plan, recouping of 

title IV-E monies from public agencies, or 

requiring the return of contract monies 

from private agencies. Private agencies 

that violate MEPA are at risk of losing 

their license to perform foster care and 

adoption functions.

For a summary of MEPA, go to www.

childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/

federal/pl103_382.cfm. For a discussion of 

the practice issues, go to www.acf.hhs.gov/

programs/cb/pubs/mepa94/index.htm. 

 Sharing Information 

With Families

Information about the child’s history may be 

shared with a prospective adoptive family in 

a presentation meeting or electronically. For 

families considering adoption from foster care 

and in some cases of intercountry adoption, 

the information is usually shared before any 

actual meeting with a specific child, so that 

the family can decide whether to proceed. 

Sharing information serves several purposes:

• Introduces background information about 

the child to the family

• Provides the family with information regarding the child’s present level of functioning

• Initiates the family’s self-evaluation process

In some cases, information is minimal, making 

it more difficult for families to make decisions about their ability to provide a nurturing 
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home for a particular child or sibling group. 

Additionally, the ability of prospective parents 

to make good, thoughtful decisions may be 

affected by their eagerness, their reluctance to 

turn down a child, or their desire not to disappoint the worker or agency.

Workers and agencies have an ethical responsibility to share all nonidentifying information 

about the child and birth family with prospective adoptive parents. Providing accurate and 

complete background information is important 

for several reasons:

• It helps the prospective adoptive family 

make an informed decision. 

• It ensures that the child is placed in an environment that can meet his or her needs. 

• It ensures that the adopted person has full 

and accurate knowledge of his or her family, 

medical, and genetic history.

• It helps protect agencies and intermediaries 

from “wrongful adoption” lawsuits. 

More information can be found in the 

Information Gateway bulletin Providing 

Background Information to Adoptive Parents, 

available at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/

f_backgroundbulletin.cfm.

 Involving Youth in Their 

Placements

Ideally, older children and youth are able to 

have significant involvement in their own permanency planning. Using a team approach to 

permanency planning for youth allows them to 

participate as team members in the planning 

process. Their involvement can include the 

following:

• The identification of kin or other important 

people who may be willing to provide a 

permanent connection or even a permanent family

• Participation in teen conferences, adoption 

fairs, and other activities in which youth and 

prospective families are brought together

• Involvement in youth development opportunities, such as training and recruiting of 

prospective families 

For more information on placing youth, see 

the Child Welfare Information Gateway bulletin Enhancing Permanency for Older Youth 

in Out-of-Home Care at www.childwelfare.

gov/pubs/focus/enhancing/index.cfm.

 Placing Children 

With Families

Once a family has been selected for a child 

and the child has been prepared for placement, the worker and family may develop 

and implement an individualized plan for how 

and when the child will move into the family’s 

home. The plan carefully considers the needs 

of the child and family in order to:

• Provide continuity of caregiving

• Ease the child’s adjustment 

• Enhance the child’s understanding of the 

event

• Allow an opportunity for important people 

in the child’s life to help the child transition

• Facilitate new attachments
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• Plan for postadoption contacts

• Help the family and child cope with 

changes and stress

Any child experiencing a move and change 

in caretaker is at risk for experiencing trauma 

(Dozier, Dozier, & Manni, 2002). This is true for 

domestically adopted infants, older children 

adopted from foster care, and infants and 

children placed through intercountry adoptions. However, the degree of trauma can be 

mitigated by the care and skill the worker and 

the families bring to the process. 

Prefinalization Services

A child typically lives with the new family for 

6 to 12 months before the adoption is finalized by the court. This period sets the tone for 

the adjustment and attachment of both the 

child and the members of the adoptive family. 

Adjustment generally occurs in a predictable 

sequence of five phases: getting acquainted, 

the honeymoon, ambivalence, reciprocal interaction, and bond solidification (Pinderhughes 

and Rosenberg, 1990). Adoption workers 

should be aware of this sequence of phases 

in order to educate families about what to 

expect during the adjustment process.

The availability of supportive services before 

and after adoption finalization has been widely 

identified as a critical factor in the successful 

continuance of an adoption (Goodman, 1990). 

Objectives of prefinalization services are to:

• Continue to educate family members about 

expected stresses and changes 

• Help parents facilitate new attachments

• Encourage a sense of entitlement by adoptive parents 

• Recognize early indicators of potential 

disruption

• Address children’s issues with loss, attachment, or cultural differences

• Address parents’ issues with unmet expectations, cultural differences, or lack of 

preparation

• Provide immediate interventions to stabilize 

placements at risk of disruption

While most adoptive placements are successful, disruptions (termination of the placement 

before finalization) do occur. Researchers note 

that the rate of disruption among children 

adopted from foster care increases with the 

age of the child, since older children often 

have experienced multiple moves, placements, changes in schools, and other difficult 

events following their initial abuse or neglect 

(Barth and Berry, 1990). Research suggests 

that disruption is less likely when postadoption 

services are provided (Goerge, Howard, Yu, & 

Radomsky, 1997).

More information about disruption can 

be found in the Information Gateway bulletin Adoption Disruption and Dissolution: 

Numbers and Trends (www.childwelfare.gov/

pubs/s_disrup.cfm).
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After placement, adoption workers help children and families learn to develop and maintain 

healthy attachments within the family. Attachment can be viewed as a continuum with healthy 

attachment at one end and attachment disorder at the other. While a small percentage of 

children with attachment problems can be correctly diagnosed as having an attachment 

disorder, many more adopted children display signs of stressed attachment, a midpoint along 

the continuum. Children who have experienced maltreatment or traumatic separations are 

hesitant to trust others sufficiently to attach quickly or easily.

The worker plays a key role in assisting the family to help the child overcome attachment 

problems and in finding adoption-competent mental health practitioners who can facilitate 

the family bonding process. Consequently, the worker must possess a solid knowledge of 

attachment dynamics and be able to assist the family in developing strategies to move toward 

healthy attachments. 

A Word About Attachment

Postadoption Services

Even after finalization, the need for services is 

a normal part of adoptive family development 

and is not necessarily an indicator of family 

dysfunction. Postadoption services can help all 

members of the adoption triad (birth parents, 

adoptive parents, and child) deal with normal 

developmental stages of adoptive family life, 

long-term adoption issues, openness mediation, searches for background information, or 

reunions. A safety net of supportive postadoption services preserves permanency, provides 

reassurance to prospective adoptive parents, 

and serves to bring in more adoptive families 

for children. 

For an overview of postadoption services, see the Information Gateway factsheet Postadoption Services: A Bulletin for 

Professionals at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/

f_postadoptbulletin/index.cfm.

For an overview of financial assistance that 

may help families pay for postadoption services, see the Information Gateway factsheet 

Adoption Assistance for Children Adopted 

From Foster Care at www.childwelfare.gov/

pubs/f_subsid.cfm.

Summary

Adoption is an evolving, highly complex area 

of practice, and bulletins such as this provide 

one way for professionals to learn. Other 

ways that adoption workers can enhance their 

skills include clinical supervision, mentoring 

with experienced adoption staff, training and 

conference opportunities, reviews of literature, 

and e-learning opportunities.
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References

Barth, R. P., & Berry, M. (1991). Preventing adoption disruption. Prevention in Human Services, 9, 

205-222.

Dozier, M., Dozier, D., & Manni, M. (2002). Attachment and biobehavioral catch-up: The ABC’s of 

helping infants in foster care cope with early adversity. ZERO TO THREE, April/May, 7-13.

Goerge, R. M., Howard, E. C., Yu, D., & Radomsky, S. (1997). Adoption, disruption, and 

displacement in the child welfare system, 1976-94. Chicago: University of Chicago, Chapin Hall 

Center for Children.

Goodman, D. A. (1993). Here today, gone tomorrow: An investigation of the factors that impact 

adoption disruption (Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 1993). Dissertation Abstracts 

International, 54, 11A (1993): 4259. 

Pinderhughes, E. E., & Rosenberg, K. F. (1990). Family bonding with high-risk placements: 

A therapy model that promotes the process of becoming a family. Journal of Children in 

Contemporary Society, 21, 204-230.

Rycus, J., & Hughes, R. (1998). Field guide to child welfare. Vol IV, Placement and permanence. 

Washington DC: Child Welfare League of America Press.

The library at the Child Welfare Information Gateway offers a full range of resources on 

adoption and adoption practice, and the library’s collection is continually updated with the 

latest reports, books, articles, and newsletters. The library also contains a number of items not 

available elsewhere, such as project reports from Federal grantees.

Anyone can search for and request items from the library. A library search will result in an 

abstract or summary and contact information for obtaining the material.

To conduct a library search, go to http://basis.caliber.com/cwig/ws/library/docs/gateway/

SearchForm

Further Resources
The Basics of Adoption Practice www.childwelfare.gov

13 This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare 

Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_basicsbulletin/f_basicsbulletin/index.cfm.

Acknowledgment: This bulletin was developed by Child Welfare Information Gateway, in partnership with Betsy Keefer and Pam Severs. This document is made possible by the Children’s Bureau, 

Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services. The conclusions discussed here are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views or policies of the funding agency.

Suggested Citation: Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2005). The Basics of Adoption Practice: 

A Bulletin for Professionals. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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