Resource Library

Provides caseworkers with information and resources about the importance of preparing adoptive parents. Is also relevant for preparing guardians.

Provides information about key emotions and challenge facing children and youth in adoption and offers tips for preparing them for permanency.

Discusses the challenges children living with nonparental care households in the United States face, emphasizing the need for a more accurate understanding of their well-being. The article can be found on pages 59-76

Discusses how agencies can help to prevent adoption and guardianship disruption and dissolution. Shares strategies to proactively address risk and protective factors that relate to adoptive placement stability.

Presents results of a large survey of adoptive parents and secondary data analysis of federal adoption data. Provides descriptive statistics describing who is adopting and who is being adopted. Includes information on meeting children’s needs after adoption and children’s educational experiences, which can help programs seeking to support adoptive families.

Provides a national snapshot of adult adoptees across foster care, private domestic, and intercountry adoption, highlighting broad satisfaction with both their adoptions and overall life circumstances while underscoring persistent gaps in information, support and openness.

Discusses the importance of openness with a child’s birth family members. This article dispels some of the common misconceptions about open adoption and provides information about post-adoption contact agreements. A link to state specific statutes related to post-adoption contact agreements as well as links to resources related to maintaining family relationships post-adoption are also included.

Outlines how youth involved in systems of care—such as child welfare, juvenile justice, and social services—benefit when adults and institutions focus on protective factors, not just risks. It explains the key protective factors across four domains (individual, relationships, community, and society) and shows how these strengths help youth cope with adversity, build resilience, and achieve healthier long‑term outcomes. It also provides research‑informed actions that practitioners and systems can take to intentionally strengthen these supports.

Provides an overview of five protective factors: building parental resilience, seeking social connections, learning about parent and child development, concrete support in good times and in bad and developing social and emotional competence in kids.

Draws from available literature and practice knowledge to summarize key issues related to providing effective services to support the stability and permanency of adoptions. Supports professionals in addressing adoptive parents’ and children’s needs for services, recognizing key considerations in providing services, addressing emerging issues, and meeting common challenges in delivery.