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

800.394.3366

Email: info@childwelfare.gov

www.childwelfare.gov

FACTSHEET 

FOR FAMILIES

February 2011

Disponible en español

www.childwelfare.gov/ 

pubs/sp_benefi.cfm

Employer-Provided 

Adoption Benefits

What’s Inside:

• Types of benefits

• Eligibility and conditions 

• Employers that offer adoption benefits

A growing number of employers offer benefits 

to adoptive parents. In 1990, a survey by 

Hewitt Associates found that only 12 percent of 

employers surveyed offered some kind of adoption 

benefits; by 2004, a Hewitt survey of 936 major 

U.S. employers showed that the percentage had 

grown to 39 percent, with an average maximum 

reimbursement of $3,879 for adoption expenses. 
Employer-Provided Adoption Benefits www.childwelfare.gov

2 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_benefi.cfm

In Hewitt’s most recent survey report 

(2008-2009), more than half of the 940 

large employers surveyed said that they 

offer some type of adoption assistance.1

Employers that offer adoption benefits cite 

advantages for their companies including 

maintenance of productivity, retention of 

good employees, a positive public image, 

and equity in benefits for all employees.

Employer-sponsored adoption benefits take 

many forms. This factsheet examines: 

• What types of benefits do employers offer 

to help with adoption?

• What are the eligibility criteria and 

conditions for receiving adoption 

benefits?

• Which employers offer adoption benefits?

1 “Trends in HR and Employee Benefits: Employer-Provided 

Adoption Benefits.” November 2009. www.hewittassociates.

com/_MetaBasicCMAssetCache_/Assets/Articles/2009/

Employer-Provided_Adoption_Benefits.pdf

Child Welfare Information Gateway 

provides additional factsheets and other 

information about making adoption 

affordable.

•	 Costs of Adopting (www.childwelfare.

gov/pubs/s_cost/index.cfm)

•	 Adoption Assistance for Children

Adopted From Foster Care (www.

childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_subsid.cfm) 

Typically, adoption benefits mirror benefits 

available to new biological parents. 

Adoption benefits fall into three general 

categories:

• Information resources 

• Financial assistance 

• Parental leave policies

Employers may offer one or more of these 

types of benefits for a single adoption. 

Information Resources 

Resources made available to employees 

may include referrals to licensed adoption 

agencies, support groups, and organizations; 

access to an adoption specialist to answer 

questions about the process; and/or help 

with special situations, such as adopting a 

child with special needs. Many employers 

that offer this type of benefit contract with a 

human resources consulting firm to provide 

these services to employees.

Financial Assistance

Financial benefits for adoptive families 

vary. Some employers provide a lump sum 

payment for an adoption, usually between 

$1,000 and $15,000. Other employers pay 

certain fees related to an adoption. Still 

others partially reimburse employees for 

expenses. Typical reimbursement plans 

cover 80 percent of certain itemized 

expenses up to an established ceiling 

(about $4,000 on average). Some employers 

reimburse at a higher rate for adoptions 

Types of Benefits
Employer-Provided Adoption Benefits www.childwelfare.gov

3 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_benefi.cfm

of children with special needs. Most 

frequently, employer-provided financial 

assistance covers public or private agency 

fees, court costs, and legal fees. Employers 

also might help with foreign adoption fees, 

medical costs, temporary foster care charges, 

transportation costs, pregnancy costs for a 

birth mother, and counseling fees associated 

with placement and transition.

Some employers pay benefits per adoption, 

while others pay per child adopted. In 

most cases, the benefits are paid after 

the adoption is finalized, although some 

employers may pay benefits when the child 

is placed or as the expenses are incurred.

Parental Leave Policies

In many cases, employers are required 

to grant parental leave to parents who 

have adopted a child. Federal law requires 

employers with 50 or more employees to 

offer both mothers and fathers up to 12 

weeks of unpaid leave upon the birth or 

adoption of a child. The law ensures that 

employees can return to their current jobs 

or an equivalent position, and it requires 

employers to continue the employee’s 

health benefits during the leave period. 

Information about this law, entitled the 

Family and Medical Leave Act, can be found 

at www.dol.gov/whd/fmla

Some employers allow employees to take 

more than the required 12 weeks of unpaid 

leave. Employees may be permitted to 

combine accumulated paid leave (such as 

vacation or sick leave) with unpaid leave to 

extend their total leave. Some employers 

even offer paid leave for employees who 

adopt a child. Certain employers may 

be bound by public and private union 

contracts that have provisions for adoption 

leave.

In addition to the Federal law, many States 

require employers to offer parental leave 

to adoptive parents. To find out about a 

particular State, check your State’s adoption 

policy handbook or contact the State’s 

adoption program manager. Information 

Gateway’s online National Foster Care and 

Adoption Directory lists contact information 

for each State’s adoption program manager: 

www.childwelfare.gov/nfcad 

Eligibility for adoption benefits usually 

depends on employment status (for 

example, policies frequently specify that 

full-time employees are eligible while 

temporary employees are not). Employers 

also might tie eligibility to length of 

employment or participation in a companysponsored health plan.

The type of adoption also can affect 

the benefits offered. For example, some 

employers do not provide benefits when 

a stepparent adopts his or her stepchild or 

stepchildren. Some employers specify that 

the child being adopted cannot be older 

than 16 or 18 years. Others offer enhanced 

benefits for the adoption of a child with 

special needs.

Eligibility and Conditions
Employer-Provided Adoption Benefits www.childwelfare.gov

4 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_benefi.cfm

Many employers offer some form of 

adoption benefits. To find out if your 

company offers adoption benefits, ask your 

human resource or personnel department. 

Wendy’s International sponsors the Dave 

Thomas Foundation for Adoption and its 

Adoption-Friendly Workplace program, 

which encourages employers to offer 

adoption benefits and celebrates those who 

do. Its website includes:

• Lists of employers that offer adoption 

benefits such as financial reimbursement 

and paid leave for adoption

• An annual list of the nation’s “100 Best 

Adoption-Friendly Workplaces”

• A free toolkit and technical assistance 

for companies wishing to propose or 

establish an adoption benefits policy

To order a free toolkit or learn more,

visit the website: 

www.AdoptionFriendlyWorkplace.org

The Holt International website includes 

an extensive list of employers that provide 

benefits that range from financial assistance 

to granting employees parental leave: 

www.holtinternational.org/adoption/

benefits.shtml

Employers That Offer 

Adoption Benefits

Suggested Citation:

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2011). 

Employer-provided adoption benefits.

Washington DC: U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services, Children’s 

Bureau.