Cabinet Secretary
Matt Althoff
Adoption Awareness Month Proclamation
Adoption Services
There are situations where the court places children outside of their home and in the custody of the Department of Social Services. Some children are not able to return home because of their parents’ circumstances, and the court orders adoptive custody with the Department.
Sometimes it can be challenging to match children with an adoptive family due to their individual needs such as age, physical or emotional condition, mental disability or as the result of being a part of a sibling group. The goal of adoption is to provide a child with a “forever family,” which could be a relative or a non- related family.
The Department must follow a number of laws when selecting an adoptive family for a child. These include