A FactSheet 

for Families

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

March 2006

It is common for adoptive families to need support 

and services after adoption. Postadoption services 

can help families with a wide range of issues. They 

are available for everything from learning how to 

explain adoption to a preschooler, to helping a 

child who experienced early childhood abuse, to 

helping with an adopted teen’s search for identity. 

Experience with adoptive families has shown that 

all family members can benefit from some type of 

What’s Inside:

Postadoption issues that most adoptive 

families encounter

Milestones that may trigger a need for 

postadoption support

Types of postadoption services

Finding postadoption services

Paying for postadoption services

Resources

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Postadoption Services
Postadoption Services www.childwelfare.gov

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postadoption support. Families of children 

who have experienced trauma, neglect, or 

institutionalization may require more intensive services.

Postadoption Issues 

That Most Adoptive 

Families Encounter

Because of the lifelong impact of adoption, 

members of adoptive families may want or 

need additional support, education, and 

other services as their children grow. The 

following are some issues for which families 

typically seek postadoption support.

Loss and Grief

All adopted children experience loss at one 

or more points in their lives, and they may 

grieve their loss as they come to understand 

the role that adoption has played in their 

lives. They may struggle with understanding 

why they were placed for adoption and how 

that affects who they are. These feelings 

may change and reappear at different stages 

of life. Some adopted children may be confused by conflicting emotions about their 

birth parents—anger at having been placed 

for adoption or having their birth parents’ 

rights terminated or worry about their birth 

parents’ circumstances. All of these feelings 

may be acted out as hostility toward their 

adoptive parents. 

Adoptive parents also may experience loss 

and grief issues of their own, often stemming from infertility issues or the stresses 

of the adoption experience itself. For some 

adoptive parents, these issues may cause 

strains in their marriages.

Understanding Adoption

Children’s understanding of adoption 

changes as they mature and can begin to 

comprehend its complex social and emotional foundations. Parents need to know 

how to answer children’s questions at each 

stage of development.

Trust and Attachment

Children who have experienced abuse, 

neglect, or institutionalization prior to 

joining their adoptive families often have 

not known consistent love and affection 

and may have difficulty trusting and attaching to their new family. In fact, any child 

separated from birth parents has experienced a break in attachment. These children 

may need help to begin to make sense of 

their history and come to terms with what 

has happened in their lives.

School Problems

Children adopted from foster care often 

have experienced multiple placements 

among homes, as well as multiple moves 

among schools. An educational consultant 

or a child psychologist may be able to test 

for educational status and work with teachers from the child’s school to ensure an 

appropriate education. School problems and 

the need for the services of an educational 

consultant may also be helpful for older 

 The Federal government currently funds demonstration 

projects in postadoption services and marriage education in 

seven States (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/programs_

fund/discretionary/2004.htm), as well as the Healthy Marriage 

Initiative (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/healthymarriage); both of these 

efforts may help couples with the stresses associated with these 

losses.
Postadoption Services

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Child Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_postadoption.cfm.

www.childwelfare.gov

children adopted through intercountry 

adoptions who already have some school 

experience in their former country. 

Other school issues can arise around classroom assignments that are insensitive or 

inappropriate for adopted children, such 

as traditional “family tree” assignments 

or basic genetics lessons (e.g., identifying 

inherited family traits). Additionally, school 

is where many adopted children are first 

challenged to explain adoption to their 

peers, often as they themselves are just 

beginning to understand what it means. 

Some materials have been developed for 

adoptive parents and educators to use in the 

classroom and to educate teachers and other 

school personnel about adoption. Support 

groups may be especially helpful in pointing 

adoptive parents to appropriate materials.

Post Institutionalization 

Issues and Behaviors

Children who have spent more than a few 

months in an institutional setting may have 

missed out on important developmental 

activities due to a lack of stimulation and 

suboptimal nutrition. They may have difficulties with feeding, sleeping, and speech, 

as well as difficulties in forming healthy 

attachments.

Identity Formation

Teenagers who were adopted at any age 

may experience identity confusion as they 

confront the primary questions of adolescence—“Who am I? How am I different 

from my parents? Which of their values 

will I take as my own?” Young people who 

joined their families through adoption also 

must try to determine how these questions 

relate to their birth parents, who may be 

unknown and even unknowable. These 

questions may be further complicated if the 

child’s race or birth culture differs from that 

of the adoptive family.

Birth Relative Contact

During the past decade or two, the professional adoption community has learned that 

many adopted children and adults desire 

or even need information about their birth 

family or to reconnect with birth relatives. 

This desire in no way reflects upon adoptive family relationships or the quality of 

parenting that adopted children received. 

Agency staff and private specialists can assist 

in providing information about birth relatives or in initiating contact, if desired, and 

mediating the relationships that may form.

Medical Concerns

Children who have been in multiple 

placements may not have received regular 

medical care. These children, as well as children adopted through intercountry adoptions, often have medical information that 

is inaccurate and/or incomplete. It is important for all children to have as complete and 

accurate a health history as possible. Assessment by an adoption-competent physician 

will provide a plan to update a child’s health 

and immunization status. 

Racial Issues

Adults who parent children of different 

races or cultures need skills to prepare their 

children to function successfully in a raceconscious society. A survey of adults who 

had been adopted from Korea as infants or 

children found that racial discrimination 

was one of the most profound issues they 
Postadoption Services www.childwelfare.gov

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Child Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_postadoption.cfm.

faced. Parents who do not have personal 

experience as a target of racial prejudice 

must learn how to prepare their children 

as much as possible. (Information Gateway 

provides a factsheet on this topic, Transracial 

and Transcultural Adoption, available at 

www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_trans.cfm.)

Child Welfare Information Gateway 

(Information Gateway) has a wealth 

of material on parenting the adopted 

child. To link to these resources, 

visit the following Information 

Gateway webpage: www.childwelfare.

gov/adoption/postadoption.

Parenting the Adopted Child

 Milestones That May 

Trigger a Need for 

Postadoption Support

Children understand, think, and feel differently about their adoption at different 

developmental stages. For most adopted 

children most of the time, thinking about 

adoption and its complexities does not 

occupy a large amount of time and focus. 

They are busy with schoolwork and sports 

activities, religious functions, social events, 

Freundlich, M., & Lieberthal, J. A. (2000) A gathering of 

the first generation of adult Korean adoptees: Adoptees’ 

perceptions of international adoption. The Evan B. Donaldson 

Adoption Institute. Retrieved August 2005 from http://www.

adoptioninstitute.org/proed/korfindings.html

family gatherings, and squabbling with their 

siblings. 

But there are times and events that predictably trigger adoption issues. Parents should 

watch for signs, such as changes in mood 

or eating and sleeping habits, indicating 

that their adopted child may need special 

support during these times. Children can be 

prepared by discussing the possibility that 

these triggers will cause a reaction, which a 

child likely cannot control. Parents should 

let their children know that they understand what is happening and will be there to 

help and find other resources as needed.

Common adoption issue triggers:

Birthdays (of the adopted child, siblings, 

parents, birth parents)

Anniversaries (of placement into foster 

care, an orphanage, or into the adoptive family, or the date of adoption 

finalization)

Holidays (especially Mother’s and Father’s 

Days, but any holiday that involves 

family gatherings and sentiment, such as 

Christmas, Passover, or Thanksgiving)

Entering kindergarten and first grade 

(which may be the first time an adopted 

child must explain adoption to peers; 

it can be the first time the child realizes 

that most children were not adopted into 

their families)

Puberty (as children become sexually 

mature and able to conceive or father 

a baby themselves, thoughts of birth 

parents may arise)

Adoptive mother’s pregnancy and birth of 

child, or adoption of another child (may 

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Postadoption Services

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trigger doubts about the adopted child’s 

place in the family)

Adopted person’s pregnancy and birth of 

child or fathering of a child (often a powerful trigger that may ignite interest in 

reconnecting with birth relatives, if only 

to obtain medical histories and updated 

information)

 Types of Postadoption 

Services

The extraordinarily wide range of issues that 

can be addressed with postadoption services 

means that the services themselves must be 

diverse. Here are the most common types of 

postadoption services, including those that 

families have identified as most helpful.

Adoptive Parent Support Groups

In an adoptive parent support group, adoptive and prospective adoptive parents come 

together to offer and receive information 

and support from their peers. Parent groups 

offer their members and other participants 

a support system, friendships, educational 

programming, social interactions with other 

adoptive families, and advice from experienced adoptive parents. Parent groups exist 

throughout the country and vary extensively, from small playgroups for toddlers 

adopted through intercountry adoptions to 

large regional groups offering a range of programs and services to their members (who 

can number in the hundreds). Most parent 

groups are organized and administered by 

adoptive parent volunteers. 

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Parent groups may restrict their focus to 

families with children who share certain 

characteristics (such as having been adopted 

from a specific country or having been 

adopted through a public agency), or they 

may include all adoptive families in their 

programming. A number of national parent 

groups are organized into local chapters. 

Local adoption agencies and State adoption 

offices also may have information on newly 

formed groups. Parent groups can be located 

through Information Gateway’s National 

Adoption Directory at www.childwelfare.

gov/nad. 

Programs and services commonly offered by 

parent groups include:

Telephone warm lines

Buddy families 

Respite care 

Lending library

Workshops/conferences 

Pre-adoption support 

Social activities

Children’s support groups

Ethnic heritage activities 

Newsletter 

Legislative advocacy 

Information and referral

Online Support Groups

Available 24 hours a day, Internet support 

groups now number in the thousands. 

Through participating in these groups, 

parents will likely find families who have 

experienced exactly what they are going 

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Postadoption Services www.childwelfare.gov

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through and who will be able to provide 

helpful suggestions. Parents should remember, however, to use the same precautions 

with online support groups that are used for 

any Internet activity. 

Psychological Therapy/Counseling

Members of adoptive families may at times 

want or need professional help as concerns 

or problems arise. Timely intervention by a 

professional skilled in adoption issues often 

can prevent concerns from becoming more 

serious problems. The type and duration of 

therapy will vary depending on the kinds 

of problems being addressed. Some families 

build a relationship with a therapist over 

years, “checking in” for help as needed. 

Others find they need a therapist’s help 

only occasionally.

There are many types of therapeutic interventions and many kinds of clinicians 

offering adoption therapy. For information 

about adoption therapy, the kinds of issues 

that it can address, and how to find the right 

mental health professional, see Selecting and 

Working with an Adoption Therapist (www.

childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_therapist.cfm).

Respite Care

Sometimes parents just need to get away 

for a while, reframe their problems, and get 

some rest. Respite care is a service that offers 

parents a temporary break from their parenting responsibilities. It is meant for families 

with children who require more skilled care 

than babysitters can provide or for parents 

going through a crisis of their own. Respite 

care can be in-home, meaning the respite 

worker comes to the house and stays with 

the children while the parents go out. With 

out-of-home respite, the parents take the 

children to a designated site.

Respite care may be available on a regularly 

scheduled or crisis basis from a State postadoption unit or local adoption agencies, or 

through a local adoptive parent group. 

Seminars/Conferences

Many adoptive parent support groups, 

adoption agencies, and postadoption service 

organizations offer education in adoption 

issues through workshops and conferences 

that range in length from a few hours to 

a few days. At an adoption conference, 

parents can learn about the adoption topics 

that are most important to them, have 

questions answered by the experts, socialize 

with other adoptive family members, and 

have the opportunity to purchase adoption-related books and other informative 

materials. Topics covered at these trainings 

may include how to discuss adoption with 

children, strategies for building attachment, 

parenting challenging children, dealing with 

adoption at school, parenting children who 

have been adopted transracially, search and 

reunion issues, supporting cultural heritage 

in international adoption, and much more. 

Adoption agencies will often offer seminars 

on such topics as specific types of child 

behavior, child development, and talking 

to children about adoption. (Search the 

Information Gateway conference calendar at 

www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.cfm.)

Scholarships are sometimes available to 

help with the cost of attending adoption 

education conferences and seminars. State 

postadoption funding may be available 

for families who adopted through public 

agencies. Parents can check with confer-
Postadoption Services

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ence organizers regarding scholarship 

opportunities.

Books and Magazines

There are many helpful books on adoption for children and adults. Many of the 

children’s books explain the “whys” of 

adoption and describe the process by which 

children are adopted. Some may help as 

children begin to question and discuss their 

own adoption story. Some of the books help 

parents look at the unique aspects of adoptive parenting. Others are written specifically for those who have adopted children 

with particular needs or who are parenting 

children from other cultures. 

There also are a number of magazines for 

adoptive families, available by subscription 

or online. Each provides parenting information and support specifically for families 

formed through adoption.

Camps/Recreational 

Opportunities/Heritage Camps

Overnight camps or retreats are a powerful way for members of adoptive families 

to connect not only with others like 

themselves, but also with their own family 

members. Such events, typically weeklong, 

often combine adoption and ethnic heritage 

education and support with traditional 

camping activities. Family camps offer 

activities for all members of the family. 

Other camps serve children of certain ages 

and/or ethnicities. Often siblings of children 

who have been adopted internationally are 

also included in heritage camp and find it 

enlightening to be among the minority, as 

their siblings frequently are. Heritage camp 

counselors are frequently older adopted 

youth, who provide critical role models 

for their younger counterparts. Frequently, 

camp attendees form powerful friendships 

with other adopted children, and they 

provide each other ongoing support all year 

long. In recent years, highly specialized 

camping experiences have become available 

for siblings separated by adoption to establish, reestablish, or strengthen their relationships with each other.

Finding Postadoption 

Services

Details about postadoption services in a 

particular area are available from local, 

State, and national information resources. 

Parents should call the public and private 

adoption agencies in their area and ask 

to be placed on their mailing lists for 

postadoption events. While some of these 

may be restricted to families who adopted 

through the agency, many postadoption 

services offered by agencies will be open 

to all adoptive families. Adoptive parent 

support groups also will have information 

about local agencies and organizations that 

provide postadoption services and their 

upcoming events. 

The following is a listing of resources for 

information about local postadoption 

services. 

Public and Private Adoption Agencies. 

Many adoption agencies have a postadoption specialist on staff, and many larger 

agencies have complete postadoption 

services departments. Agencies may offer 

counseling by on-staff clinicians, or they 
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can refer parents to adoption-competent 

therapists. Among the postadoption services 

offered by agencies are support groups for 

parents and children, educational workshops and events, cultural heritage events, 

respite care, and support with birth family 

relationships. 

Specialized Postadoption Services Organizations. Agencies offering postadoption 

services exclusively are becoming more 

prevalent throughout the country. They 

typically offer the same kinds of postadoption services as do adoption agencies, but 

they do not place children for adoption and 

may not be affiliated with any specific adoption agency.

Adoptive Parent Support Groups. Parent 

groups offer information about local postadoption service providers and referrals to 

adoption-competent therapists. Educational 

events, respite care, and cultural events are 

among the many kinds of support a parent 

group may offer.

State and County Adoption Offices and 

Postadoption Specialists. Most State and 

county adoption offices have identified 

staff who are responsible for adoption and 

postadoption services or adoption subsidies. 

Larger jurisdictions may offer services themselves, but all will have information about 

local postadoption services and providers.

Adoptive parents can find out if their child 

is eligible for these services by contacting 

the adoption specialist for that jurisdiction. To find contact information for all 

of the State Adoption Specialists, search 

the National Adoption Directory at www.

childwelfare.gov/nad.

State Postadoption Resource Centers. 

Some States now provide a resource center 

specifically for postadoption services. Some 

of these resource centers serve only those 

families who have adopted children through 

domestic foster care, while other centers 

may have no restrictions on who is eligible 

to use their services. Most offer programs 

and all provide information about local 

postadoption services and providers. 

Public and Private Mental Health Service 

Providers. Mental health service providers 

will offer counseling on issues affecting 

adoptive families. Parents should be sure 

that the provider is adoption competent 

(has experience and is skilled in working 

with adoptive families) or willing to learn 

about the special issues and dynamics of 

adoptive families. (See Selecting and Working 

With an Adoption Therapist—

www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_therapist.cfm.)

Community Health Organizations. Local 

public health organizations provide mental 

health services and referrals to local clinicians. Parents should check to find out if 

the provider has experience with adoptive 

families.

Parents can find local contact 

information for these resources from 

the Information Gateway’s National 

Adoption Directory (www.childwelfare.

gov/nad).
Postadoption Services

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Paying for Postadoption 

Services

While many postadoption services are not 

free of charge to adoptive families, there 

may be Federal and State funding to support 

services for families who have adopted 

children from a public agency. Many children adopted from public agencies qualify 

for adoption assistance (subsidies) and 

Medicaid. These benefits are often used to 

purchase postadoption services. An adoption assistance agreement should spell out 

the types of postadoption services that 

will be reimbursed (such as respite care or 

counseling). To find out about postadoption 

services that are paid for by adoption assistance programs in a particular State, parents 

can access Information Gateway’s webpage 

on Adoption Assistance by State at www.

childwelfare.gov/adoption/adopt_assistance.

If adoption assistance programs are not 

available, parents can check with their 

health insurance company or health maintenance organization regarding mental 

health benefits that may be applicable.

Some States may have additional funding 

to support families in attending seminars, 

conferences, and other educational events, 

or for other postadoption services. Parents 

can contact their State postadoption specialist for information on State postadoption 

funding, programs, and services that may 

be available. 

Conclusion

Seeking out postadoption services is a 

common way for adoptive parents to find 

information or someone to talk to; for 

adoptive families who need more intensive 

or specialized services, there are places for 

them to turn. Such activities have become 

normal and expected for adoptive families. 

Clearly, there is nothing wrong (and everything right!) with a family that seeks postadoption support at any time throughout 

the lifelong process of adoption.

Resources

Child Welfare Information Gateway (www.

childwelfare.gov) offers resources for adoptive families, including the following:

National Adoption Directory, a database 

of public and private agencies, State postadoption specialists, and adoptive parent 

groups—www.childwelfare.gov/nad

Database of upcoming conferences—

www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.

cfm

The Adoption Assistance database, with 

information about postadoption services 

and funding provided by or through State 

agencies—

www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/

adopt_assistance

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Postadoption Services www.childwelfare.gov

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Child Welfare Information Gateway. Available online at www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_postadoption.cfm.

Listing of national organizations 

providing support to adoptive family 

members—

www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/reslist/rl_dsp.

cfm?svcID=135&rate_chno=AR-0011A

Selecting and Working With an Adoption 

Therapist factsheet—

www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_therapist.cfm

The North American Council on Adoptable 

Children (www.nacac.org) provides resources 

for transracial families, a database of parent 

groups, and information on starting an 

adoptive parent support group.

The American Academy of Pediatrics 

(www.aap.org) offers a listing of pediatricians who specialize in adoption and foster 

care medicine, including international adoption clinics. 

ARCH National Respite Network 

(www.archrespite.org) provides information 

about respite care and a searchable database 

of respite care providers. 

National Adoption Magazines

Adoptive Families

www.adoptivefamilies.com

Adoption Today

www.adoptinfo.net

Rainbow Kids

www.rainbowkids.com/index.chtml

Fostering Families Today

www.fosteringfamiliestoday.com

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Acknowledgment: This factsheet was 

developed by Child Welfare Information 

Gateway, in partnership with Susan Freivalds. 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). Postadoption Services: A 

Factsheet for Families. Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services.