Thank you for your interest in foster care and/or adoption. La Familia is your local Recruitment Response Team (RRT) in New Mexico. My name is Melissa Romero, and I am an RRT Family Advocate. My address is La Familia Incorporated, 707 Broadway NE, Suite 103, Albuquerque, NM 87102. I will contact you at regular intervals to provide you with information, support and encouragement.

Contact Information

La Familia Inc.

Melissa Romero, Adopt NM-Executive Assistant

(505) 766-9361, ext.160

mgromero@la-familia-inc.org

Para información en español, contacte:

Gloria Salazar, LMSW

(505) 766-9361, ext.161

gfsalazar@la-familia-inc.org

Licensing Requirements for Foster or Adoption

To foster or adopt, it is required that you have an approved homestudy done through the Children, Youth & Families Department of the state of New Mexico. A homestudy is a document that talks about your strengths as a family. This will include interviews with everyone living in your household.

Fostering

Fostering is when you care for a child while their case worker decides if they can be safely reunited with their birth family. Many children are reunited, but many others cannot return to their birth families and need adoptive families.

You can qualify to become a foster family in New Mexico if you are:

• Healthy;
• 21 or older;
• Able to provide space for a child;
• Willing to attend parenting classes;
• Willing to undergo a home study; and
• Committed to caring for and loving children.

Adopting

Adopting is when a child permanently joins your family.

You can qualify to become an adoptive family if you:

• Attend your local adoptive parent orientation program;
• Fill out the application completely and provide personal references;
• Schedule time with your placement social worker to get your fingerprints taken for a background check;
• Attend parenting classes;
• Complete a homestudy with your social worker;
• Are over the age of 21;
• Have adequate space for an adopted child or children;
• Are healthy;
• Provide other documents that may be required; and
• Are committed to caring for, and loving, children.

Does it Cost to Foster or Adopt?

Fostering is free. In fact, you can receive financial assistance to help you to meet some of the children’s needs.

Adopting is free if you adopt a child in New Mexico if you are licensed through the Children, Youth and Families Department. In fact, you can receive financial assistance for some of the other standard costs of finalizing your adoption. The following expenses may be reimbursed in part, or completely.

• Attorney's fees;
• Court costs;
• Transportation, lodging and meals during visits with your potential adoptive child; and
• CYFD required physical and/or psychiatric exams not covered by your health insurance.

If you are licensed through a nonprofit or private agency, they may charge fees. If you adopt a child who is waiting in foster care in another state, your licensing agency may charge fees. However, when families adopt children who are in foster care and eligible for subsidy, the families may be eligible for reimbursement of some adoption-related costs, such as attorney’s fees and court fees, through the child’s state and/or federal options.

Parent Support Groups

Please contact us for more information about parent support groups.

Agency Contact and Orientation Information

Find information on all agencies in New Mexico.

Information on Children

There are 2,316 children in foster care in New Mexico; 705 of these children are waiting for adoptive families.

Children become available for adoption for a number of reasons, including neglect or abuse. Children often experience conflicting emotions or grief over the loss of important people in their lives.

Some children may have brothers and sisters, and they may need families who can keep them with their siblings. Our children are every race, age and religion. All of these children have different talents, hopes and dreams. And, all of them deserve a loving family.

Our children currently live in foster homes, group homes or treatment centers.

Upcoming Events

Adoptive Training for Adoptive Parents is held on the second Wednesday of every month at La Familia Incorporated.

Please contact us for more information about events.