ACF Administration for Children and Families

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES:
Administration on Children, Youth and Families 1. Log No: ACYF-CB-IM-14-02 2. Issuance Date: 05-30-2014 3. Originating Office: Children’s Bureau 4. Key Words: Adoption, Post-Adoption Services, International Adoption
ACF Administration for Children and Families
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration on Children, Youth and Families 1. Log No: ACYF-CB-IM-14-02 2. Issuance Date: 05-30-2014 3. Originating Office: Children’s Bureau 4. Key Words: Adoption, Post-Adoption Services, International Adoption
INFORMATION MEMORANDUM
TO: State Agencies Administering or Supervising the Administration of Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act
SUBJECT: Re-homing of adopted children: responsibilities for states and opportunities in the provision of post-adoption services.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this memorandum is to provide an overview of the practice of re-homing of adopted children, convey the concerns presented by this practice, and to encourage state title IV-B and title IV-E agencies to develop and promote the provision of post-adoption services and resources to adopted children and youth including those adopted internationally. Agencies are further encouraged to promote the availability of post-adoption services and resources through various means of outreach and information sharing to the adoption community.
LEGAL AND RELATED REFERENCES: Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act (the Act) (42 U.S.C. 621, et. seq. and 670, et. seq.); Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) (42 U.S.C. 5101, et. seq.)
Background on Re-homing of Adopted Children
In September 2013, the Reuters News Agency reported1 on its investigation of an online Yahoo group bulletin board known as “Adopting-from-Disruption.” Although the adoption site highlighted in the article has since been shut down, it and nine other bulletin boards served as a means for adoptive families to “advertise” and facilitate placements of their children with non-relative strangers. The term “re-homing,” a term typically used by pet owners seeking new homes for their pets, became widely used to describe the behavior of these parents who sought to relinquish care of their adopted children outside the purview of the courts or public child welfare agencies.
Reuters Investigates: The Child Exchange, Inside America’s Underground Market For Adopted Children: SEE: http://www.reuters.com/investigates/adoption/#article/part1