This guide shares information about the importance of fathers in the lives of their children, and it identifies potential consequences if they are not involved. It also offers strategies for systems and families, especially those who are involved in systems of care, to help fathers become more involved. Section I discusses statistics about the presence and absence of fathers in families.

There are approximately 175,000 youth ages 10–18 in foster care in the United States.1 Of these youth, an estimated 5–10 percent—and likely more—are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ).

Older foster children and youth have a pressing need for permanency. Almost half of the 538,801 children in out-of-home care at the end of the federal 2000 reporting period were ages 10 to17 (Gibbs et al., 2004). As one youth explained, “Our time is almost up. We want a home, and people we can call parents.” Still, tens of thousands of foster youth emancipate from the system without connections each year. This crisis has provoked a groundswell of action by youth advocates, and a call from young people themselves to change the system. It is not typical for youth to leave foster care and function effectively on their own. Older children need parents and the support of committed adults. Research shows that disadvantaged young people who are connected to adults do better: They relate to others with ease, take fewer risks, have better health, and overcome adversity more easily.

Published by:
The North American Council on Adoptable Children
for The Annie E. Casey Foundation Family to Family Initiative

All States, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico have statutes or regulations requiring background investigations of prospective foster and adoptive parents and all adults residing in their households. In most States, the background investigation includes a check of Federal and State criminal records. Most States also require checks of child abuse and neglect registries. States may deny approval of a foster care license or adoption application if any adult in the household has been convicted of a disqualifying crime or has a registry record of substantiated or founded child abuse or neglect.

Adopting a stepchild is the most common form of adoption. A stepparent who adopts agrees to become the legal parent and be fully responsible for his or her spouse’s child. After the stepparent adoption occurs, the noncustodial parent (the parent not living with the child) no longer has any rights or responsibilities for the child, including child support.

Many State legislatures have enacted legislation to address infant abandonment and infanticide in response to a reported increase in the abandonment of infants. Beginning in Texas in 1999, “Baby Moses laws” or infant safe haven laws have been enacted as an incentive for mothers in crisis to safely relinquish their babies to designated locations where the babies are protected and provided with medical care until a permanent home is found. Safe haven laws generally allow the parent, or an agent of the parent, to remain anonymous and to be shielded from prosecution for abandonment or neglect in exchange for surrendering the baby to a safe haven.

Every State, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have statutes providing for the termination of parental rights by a court. Termination of parental rights ends the legal parent-child relationship. Once the relationship has been terminated, the child is legally free to be placed for adoption, with the objective of securing a more stable, permanent family environment that can meet the child’s long-term parenting needs.

Since its founding in 1974 by adoptive parents, the North American Council on Adoptable Children (NACAC) has been dedicated to the mission that every child deserves a permanent family. Through education, support, parent leadership capacity building, and advocacy, NACAC promotes and supports permanence for children and youth in foster care in the United States and Canada. Some of NACAC’s core activities include empowering parents to support one another as they raise children adopted from foster care; working with policymakers, administrators, and grassroots advocates to reform the foster care system and improve outcomes for children and youth; and disseminating information that will help child welfare professionals and adoptive families better support vulnerable children.

This publication, funded through a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, was written for NACAC by Madelyn Freundlich, with assistance from NACAC staff members and consultants Mary Boo, Janet Jerve, Joe Kroll, Josh Kroll, Jennifer Miller, Christina Romo, Gina Russo, and Jeanette Wiedemeier Bower.

New Jersey Referral Resources for Adoption

Commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
Conducted by Harris Interactive