Adoptions in the U.S. | issues-summaries | for-members-of-congress-

For Members of Congress · Issues Summaries ·

Adoptions in the U.S.

The Adoption Institute’s Beyond Culture Camp: Promoting Healthy Identity Formation in Adoption (2009)

This report provides information organized by state on the number of children aging out of the foster care system, and explores recommendations for preventing youth from aging out of foster care.

CCAI's Adoption in the U.S. (2008)

This report contains information about adoption in the U.S., including characteristics of the children waiting to be adopted and information about who is adopting them.

DTFA's National Foster Care Adoption Attitudes Survey (2007)

This survey examined American attitudes towards foster care adoption. It includes key findings about families' views and misconceptions of foster care adoption.

AFCARS Adoption Data Research Brief: Adoptive Family Structure (2006)

This report gives a historical context of family structure, and analyzes trends in the structure of adoptive adoptive families. Information about the children's charactertistics is also included.

AFCARS Adoption Data Research Brief: Age of Children at Adoption and Time of Termination of Parental Rights to Adoption (2006)

Trends in the age of children at adoption and trends in time from Termination of Parental Rights to Finalization are analyzed in this report. State by state data is also reported.

Evan B. Donaldson's Listening to Parents: Overcoming Barriers to the Adoption of Children in Foster Care (2005)

Problems reported by prospective and adoptive families, as well as recommendations for overcoming these barriers are presented in this report.

GAO's Child Welfare: Better Data and Evaluations Could Improve Processes and Programs for Adopting Children with Special Needs (2005)

The GAO completed this study to identify major challenges in placing and keeping special needs children in adoptive homes, and to assess how well the Adoption Assistance Program and the Adoption Incentives Program have worked to facilitate special needs adoptions.

Urban Institute's Foster Care Adoption in the United States: A State By State Analysis (2004)

Barriers and promising approaches to foster care adoption are presented in this research, along with considerations of what can be done to improve the process.

Census 2000 Special Report: Adopted Children and Step-Children (2003)

Adoption data was collected for the first time in 2000. This report includes graphs, maps, and charts on adoption, including step child adoption. Data analyzed includes location of adoption children, socioeconomic state, race, age, and gender characteristics.

GAO's Foster Care: Recent Legislation Helps States Focus on Finding Permanent Homes for Children, But Long-Standing Barriers Remain (2002)

This report examines the impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA) and its attempt to fast track children to safe and permanent homes, instead of languishing in the foster care system. The report also examines the use of funding provided to state by ASFA, as well as barriers that remain to achieving permanency.

CDC's Adoption Experiences of Women and Men and Demand for Children to Adopt by Women 18-44 Years of Age in the United States (2002)

This report presents national estimates of the prevalence of adoption for men and women 18-44 years of age, the demand for children to adopt by women, and women's preferences for charactertistics of the adopted child.