Adoption 101

November 12, 2009

 It’s National Adoption
Month!
• 65, 500 adopted children being raised by
lesbian or gay parents

• Of the 3.1 million lesbian and gay

households in the U.S., 1.6 percent
include an adopted child
 Adoption Options
Types of Adoption
State or Public Agency adopt a child who is in
Adoption foster care from the
public child welfare
system
Agency Open Adoption open adoption through an
adoption agency
Open Independent Adoption open adoption where you
find birth parents who want
or need to place their child
in an adoption
International Adoption adopt a child from another
country through an agency
or independently
 Joint & Second Parent
Adoption
Joint Adoption Second Parent Adoption

Allows an unmarried Allows a parent to adopt

couple to adopt a child their partner’s biological or
together, giving both adoptive child without
parents legal custody of terminating the first
the child. parent’s legal status as a
parent.
 Local Adoption Laws
Allows Allows joint Allows
adoption by adoption second
LGBT parent
Individuals adoption

Washington Yes Yes Yes

D.C

Maryland Yes Yes Yes

*Some *Some
Jurisdictions Jurisdictions

Virginia Yes No No

MD VA
 All Children - All Families
• Enhancing LGBT cultural competence
among child welfare professionals
• Educating LGBT community in
opportunities to become foster or adoptive
parents
 Post Permanency Family Center
900 Varnum St., NE Washington, DC 20017
(inside the Washington Jesuit Academy)
Main Line: (202) 526 – 4802

The Post Permanency Family Center (PPFC) is a

partnership between DC Child and Family Services
Agency (CFSA) and Adoptions Together.

The Post Permanency Family Center was established

in April 2007 to provide support, guidance and
information to the adoption/guardianship
community in the Washington, DC metropolitan
area.
 PPFC services include…
• Attachment-Focused Family, Couples and
Individual Counseling
• Clinical Case Management
• Trainings (Parent and Professional)
• Support Groups
• Saturday Respite Program
• On-Call Crisis Intervention