1. Project Connecticut’s Child (adoption of children from state foster care)

Since CT-AFS' beginning, it has strived to find homes for the children most in need. We call this work “Project Connecticut’s Child”. Each year nearly 250 children become available for adoption in this state. Usually these children have lived for several months or years in foster care families after being removed from their biological parents after abuse or neglect is confirmed. Once reunification with their parents is determined to be no longer possible or not in the best interests of the child, termination of the parental rights of all parents is sought through the Superior Court. CT-AFS now employs a family recruiter to help find families for these children.

Children of all ages are available. Many have emotional, physical, or intellectual disabilities. Some are members of a sibling group and need to be placed with their siblings. A significant number of the children are African-American, Latino/Latina, or multi-racial. With the help of grants, CT-AFS is able to offer services at no cost to families in Eastern Connecticut, Middlesex County, and the shoreline area between New Haven and New London. Families in other areas of the state only need to pay the regular cost of the home study, as the rest of the adoption costs are paid by the Dept. of Children & Families.

You can read about families formed through foster-adoption, find books, websites and resources for prospective foster-adoptive parents at:
www.adoptivefamilies.com/foster,

Photos and profiles of some of these children can be seen on the Connecticut Department of Children and Families website: www.state.CT.US/dcf.
Children from other states’ foster care systems can be seen on these
national websites: www.adoptuskids.org, www.adoptamericanetwork.org, www.capbook.org, www.adoptex.org, and www.adopt.org.

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2. Adopting an Infant from the United States

Carefully consider the child you wish to adopt. You should consider the gender, race, and health history of the birth parents, and the time you can wait for a child to be identified. Parents who wish to adopt from a private agency within the U.S. will need to know that only infants are available. Parents who want to adopt an older child should look into adopting a foster child from one of the state systems or adopting a foreign child. There are children of all races available for adoption in the U.S. You should be aware, however, that in Connecticut and throughout the U.S., there is a high need for families interested in adopting healthy African-American and bi-racial (part African-American) infants.

There are three types of adoption available for parents adopting infants in the U.S.:
Semi-open adoption: Semi-open means that information is shared between birth and adoptive parents, yet confidentiality regarding individuals’ last names and addresses is maintained. Birth parents participate in choosing parents for their child by looking at albums that the adoptive parents have made. They may ask to meet the adoptive parents and often request that pictures and written updates are sent after the adoption. Occasionally, after meeting and getting to know each other, the birth parents and adoptive parents may decide to visit with each other a couple of times a year on an ongoing basis.

Identified adoption: Birth and adoptive families may choose each other on their own. They may come into contact with each other through friendship, kinship, mutual acquaintances, advertising, or an attorney. A full home study of the adopting family still needs to be completed.

Open adoption: Sometimes birth and adoptive parents mutually decide to share their full names, addresses, and phone numbers. They then can communicate with each other directly and as often as desired.

CT-AFS assists birth and adoptive parents with these placements. For families who choose to adopt a child out-of-state, we can provide all the local pre-adoptive services for the adoptive parents, such as the home study, case management, as well as the required post-placement visits, and finalization if desired.

CT-AFS provides counseling to a small number of expectant parents who are considering placement of their child for adoption. Since the number of children placed from our own birth parents is small, we recommend adoptive parents also register with an out-of-state agency if they wish to be considered for CT-AFS infants. We have a resource list of such placement agencies that is given to new clients.


THE PROS & CONS OF DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION

Domestic Adoption
Most adoptions in the U.S. are semi-open and some are fully open adoptions. Families must be willing to meet with birth parents and send ongoing pictures and letters to them. Families are usually chosen by the birth parents that look at adoptive parents albums.

Pros:

• Primarily newborns are available for placement through private agencies


• Sometimes better/ more complete medical history is available


• More background history about birth parents is available

Cons:

• Sometimes the waiting time can be longer, as families have to wait to be “chosen”

International AdoptionInternational adoptions are mostly closed adoptions (little or no contact between birth and adoptive parents). Children are either cared for in orphanages or cared for by foster families until adopted.

Pros:

• Usually shorter waiting times; placement agencies can tell families how long it will take to receive a child referral


• Children of all ages are available

Cons:

• Youngest children are 6-12 months old


• More paperwork- families need to complete immigration documents and put together a dossier (i.e. a packet of documents to be sent to the foreign Country)


• Children’s medical histories may be incomplete and little or no information on birth parents


• Sometimes foreign countries may put their adoption programs “on hold”, so families might need to switch to a different country


• Travel to the country is usually required (but not for Korea, Guatemala, or Samoa)


• Older children may experience “orphanage syndrome” or attachment disorder