GIVE BIRTH IN YOUR HEART CONSIDER ADOPTION
Who Are the Children?	What happens Once My Approval Is Completed?	Who Can Adopt?
How Do I Get Started?	What assistance is available after I adopt?	Does CRI Charge a Fee?
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CRI provides specialized recruitment for older children with special needs.  These are children in the foster care system who are waiting for a forever family.  The children are typically between the ages of five and fifteen, can be brothers and sisters who want to stay together, or may be physically, mentally, or emotionally challenged. 

CRI also licenses families interested in adopting a younger child.  CRI can help families complete the training, application process, and home study in order to make the dream of adoption into a reality.

The children are just like other children in your neighborhoods, schools, and communities.  They have the same basic need for stability and guidance from a committed, loving family.

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·        Termination of Parental Rights – A court process in which the legal rights of biological parents are removed by a judge, legally freeing a child for adoption.

·        Closed Adoption – An adoption in which adoptive families and birth parents have no contact with one another.

·        Open Adoption – An adoption which involves some type of contact with the birth family.  This contact can range from exchanging information, letters, and photos via a P.O. box to regular visitation.  Open adoption agreements can be formally documented in the legal adoption finalization paperwork, or can be informal agreements between adoptive parents and birth families.  Sometimes contact is maintained with birth parents, but open adoption can be considered contact with other relatives, siblings, and prior foster families. 

·        Legal Risk – Cases in which the termination of parental rights has not yet been completed but DCF expects the child to be legally freed for adoption.  Families are sought that want to adopt a child for children in legal risk situations, because finding an adoptive placement as early as possible decreases the likelihood that the child will experience multiple placements.  Families must be willing to assume some risk, in that the child may be returned to the parent and/or may have visitation with the parents during the termination process.  There are varying degrees of legal risk, which can be discussed with you on an individual basis.

·        Adoptive families may be couples, single parents, or same sex partners. 

·        Families who already have children and families with no children can adopt.

·        There is no specific income requirement for adoptive families, although they must have a stable income sufficient to meet their needs.

·        It is not necessary for adoptive parents to own their own homes or for children to have their own rooms.

·        Adoptive families must have a clean criminal and child protective service history.

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·        DCF contracts with our agency to find adoptive homes for older children and ones with special needs.  If you are interested in one of these children, the fee would be paid by DCF.

·        If you are interested in adopting a younger child, CRI charges a modest fee to cover our costs of training and home study preparation. 

·        DCF (or an out of state agency) can contract with CRI after your child is placed to provide ongoing services to your family.

·        CRI’s support groups and ongoing training opportunities are available to our families free of charge.

·        Most families will be eligible to be reimbursed for a portion of the fee at the time the adoption is finalized.

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·        CRI will send your information to DCF to be considered for all children in the state available for adoption. 

·        How soon you are matched with a child will depend on your criteria for adoption. 

·        If you are interested in adopting a child residing out of state, CRI will work with that state’s social workers to facilitate the adoption process.

·        Most families receive an adoption subsidy for their child until he/she turns 18.  Subsidies are available for children with therapeutic or medical needs, are over the age of 2 and are considered an ethnic minority, any child over the age of 8, siblings who are placed together, and children who have a high risk of having therapeutic or medical needs in the future.  Subsidies continue until the child turns 18.

·        Medical insurance coverage is available for children after they have been adopted.  Children are covered until they are 18 or until they turn 21 if they have identified medical needs.

·        CRI offers post adoption assistance to families and continued 24 hour emergency support for up to a year after the adoption has been finalized, as contracted by DCF.

·        Adoptive parents are eligible to participate in CRI’s support groups and ongoing trainings.

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Simply call Karen at 860/621-7600 ext. 204.  We’ll set up a time to meet for a consultation and to answer your personal questions about the adoption process.  You can also email additional questions to kannis@criinc.org.  You can also find out more information by attending one of our open houses. 

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