In this book you will see many different faces of youth. The words next to their faces only tell a partial story. Their biography is not complete. Any young person’s story is worthy of telling you, yet what you read here about them is just a few short sentences.

The paragraphs next to each child are an introduction. Beyond the paragraphs, we want you to know the whole biography of a child when you are considering making a commitment as a parent; however here in this book we balance your need to know with a child’s need for privacy and sense of well-being.

Children who have experienced foster care all have one thing in common: they have had to leave their home. And by that very fact alone, their need for healing, stability and nurturing requires attention. Children who have had to endure
neglect, abuse, or trauma can face many challenges. Those challenges can range from mild to severe and can also be temporary or permanent.

The challenges our children face will not be detailed in the introductions. Listing a short medical or mental health diagnosis can sometimes be misleading and can breach confidentiality.

You can read about some of the challenges that are common to many children in the adoption program in a separate section of this book.

In the adoption program, many of the children are older and may have physical, mental or emotional impairments. Some have brothers and sisters in the program with them and they may need to live together or they may need to keep their essential connection to each other through different living arrangements.

The youth featured in this book are in foster care and they may live with a foster family or they may be living in a group home or other child-caring facility such as a treatment center.

Every child needs the love and support of a family. We invite you to learn more about adopting children in the Indiana Adoption Program.

You will see a number next to each child’s introduction. Please refer to this number when making an inquiry about them.

Download Adoption: Opening Heart, Changing Lives

PDF format, 1MB, 48Pages.

How Do I Start The Adoption Process?

The Adoption Process for a child who is a ward requires the supervision of a county Office of Family and Children and that is usually the county where the prospective adoptive parent resides. The process begins with Family Preparation and parents are required to attend educational workshops and complete a Family Preparation Assessment, sometimes called a Home Study. You can learn more about the process in another section of this book. Prospective Adoptive parents must be recommended to the Indiana Adoption Program after their Family Preparation is complete and approved.

To begin to inquire about Family Preparation contact the Indiana Adoption Program:
Call 1-888-25-ADOPT
or e-mail at adoption@iquest.net

You will be given the contact information of those in your community responsible for helping you with Family Preparation and your contact information will be submitted to your local Training Coordinator and to your local county Department of Child Services. The Training Coordinator will send you a schedule and they may contact you about registering for the educational workshops. You can also choose to contact your community agencies.

If you have an approved Family Preparation Assessment or Home Study from the Indiana Department of Child Services and want more information on a child introduced in the Picture Book, contact the Indiana Adoption Program. You will be given the contact information for the child and your contact information will be submitted to the child’s social worker and Special Needs Adoption Specialist.

We encourage you to contact the IAP first in order to ensure that you communicate to the proper individuals responsible for any child featured in this book.

Visit Indiana Adoption Program's Web Site

Welcome to the Indiana Adoption Program:

The Indiana Adoption Program is a statewide effort to create permanence for children who are wards of the State of Indiana. The program is administered by the Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association (IFCAA) in collaboration with the State of Indiana.

There are many aspects of adoption and the Indiana Adoption Program is just one of those aspects. We will help you consider some aspects of adoption in this book.

The Picture book is also available on the internet. You can download the book or specific pages at www.adoptachild.in.gov.

To learn more about Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association, see us on the web at: www.ifcaa.org or call for a brochure: 1-800-468-4228.

To mail correspondence to the Indiana Adoption program send to: The Indiana Adoption program, c/o IFCAA, 509 E. National Ave., Ste. A, Indianapolis, IN 46227.

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