Thank you for your interest in learning more about fostering and/or adopting from Alabama’s child welfare system. Alabama’s DHR has a system for delivering child welfare services that is administered by a State office in Montgomery with services managed and implemented by 67 county departments. Each county has its own county director and board of directors. Also, licensed private agencies have chosen many different locations in our state.

Contact Information

Children’s Aid Society

(205) 251-7148

cas@childrensaid.org

Para información en español, contacte:

Children’s Aid Society

(205) 251-7148

cas@childrensaid.org

Licensing Requirements for Foster or Adoption

Foster Parent:

• Age 19 or older;
• Criminal background checks for all household members 19 or older;
• Clearance of State Central Registry on Child Abuse/Neglect for all household members 14 or older;
• Family Stability;
• Statement from physician stating physically able to care for children;
• Character references;
• Regular source of income that meets your family’s financial needs;
• Successful completion of a home safety inspection;
• Preparation training with homestudy/family assessment;
• CPR for Adults/Infants & Children, First Aid;
• If married, must be married at least one (1) year. (You do not have to be married.)

Adoptive Parent:

• Age 19 or older;
• Criminal background checks for all household members 19 or older;
• Clearance of State Central Registry on Child Abuse/Neglect for all household members 14 or older;
• Family Stability;
• At least one parent must be United States Citizen;
• Reasonable good health as verified through completed medical forms;
• Character references;
• Regular source of income that meets your family’s financial needs;
• Successful completion of a home safety inspection;
• Preparation training with homestudy/family assessment;
• CPR for Adults/Infants & Children, First Aid (for some kinds of adoption only);
• If married, applicants must be married for at least three years. (You do not have to be married.)

Note: The State Office of Adoption may approve a policy exception to facilitate adoption in some cases.

For more information on foster and adoption in Alabama, visit the following sites:

• Adoption: http://www.dhr.state.al.us/page.asp?pageid=306
• Foster: http://www.dhr.state.al.us/page.asp?pageid=331

Does it Cost to Foster or Adopt?

For Foster Families:

Assessment of a family’s capacity to meet their own financial needs is a part of the homestudy process. The family will incur costs of medical examinations. Additionally, there may be a time, especially at the beginning of the foster process, when the foster family will have to spend their money to meet the needs of the child.

For Adoptive Families:

If a family is licensed to adopt through DHR, DHR charges no fees to parents who wish to adopt a child who is in foster care in Alabama or another state’s foster care.

Private agencies are also available to license families to adopt. Private agencies will probably charge fees. Please ask each individual agency if they charge fees.

Fees are usual and customary for legal and court costs. These fees are assessed by the court and/or attorney.

Families adopting children who qualify for subsidy and are in foster care may be eligible for reimbursement of limited nonrecurring adoption-related costs, including legal and court costs. This would be available through the child’s state or federal options.

If your health plan or doctor charges you a fee when you receive the mandatory medical examination from your doctor, you will have to pay that fee to your health plan or doctor.

Agency Contact and Orientation Information

Interested families should contact us for information about orientation and pre-service training in your area. We are available at (205) 251-7148.

To see a map of the county departments, along with mailing address and main telephone numbers, visit the following web site and click on the appropriate county on the map: http://www.dhr.state.al.us/Counties.asp.

Public Child Placing Agency

Alabama Department Of Human Resources

Marie Youngpeter, Program Manager

Office Of Permanency

50 Ripley Street

P.O. Box 304000

Montgomery, Al 36130-4000

(334) 242-9500

Private Child Placing Agencies

Licensed By The State Department Of Human Resources To Perform Adoption Services

(P) For profit agency | (NP) Non-profit agency

Information on Children

There are 6,913 children in foster care in Alabama; 2,128 of these children are waiting for adoptive families.

Upcoming Events

Alabama Foster & Adoptive Parent Association (AFAPA) periodically provides regional training workshops throughout the year. Contact AFAPA for more information.

Alabama Pre & Post Adoption Connection (APAC), through their parent support groups and regional offices, provides periodical training seminars throughout the year. Contact the APAC regional office in your area for more information.

Most of the 67 County DHR offices provide free continuing education to their foster and adoptive families. Follow-up with the resource caseworker in your county office for information about training opportunities.