Adoption Services

If one is working with a public or private agency adoption, he or she may notice the competitive lists of adoption services offered to entice adoption parties, and rightfully so. Adoption services are what an agency offers to a couple and birth mother pre- and post-placement. These services are meant to be supportive or may be required for the legal processions of an adoption. Support services include counseling and the educating both a birth mother and couples. Some agencies may also send one of their own social workers to conduct a homestudy as well as assign an attorney to handle the legal needs of the adoption.

Of the specialized staff that carry out adoption services at an agency, social workers are among the most involved people a couple and birth parent will work with. A social worker, for example, may be the person to facilitate the first meeting a couple has with a birth mother and will continue to act as a mediator in the relationship, if the adoption is to remain semi-open. Social workers may also provide extensive counseling for the birth mother pre- and post-placement that is paramount to the finalization of an adoption.

Post-adoption services are sought for the guidance that adoptive parents and children may need. This is more common, especially for children placed from the foster system, as they may have tumultuous pasts that can affect their behavioral, mental and social well-being.