Single parents can adopt or foster children. Start with looking for local foster care and adoption agencies. Child Welfare Information Gateway provides a national foster care and adoption search directory to help you find contact information in your state. Requirements for fostering children vary according to state, but it can include a minimum age requirement, criminal background check, income, housing, health, transportation and approved home study.
The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) found that around 15,000 single women and 2,000 single men adopted children or youth from foster care in 2017. “More than one-quarter (28%) of the children adopted from foster care in (federal fiscal year) 2017 were adopted by single people,” according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway’s July 2019 factsheet for families.