National Adoption Information Clearinghouse

Whether you're new to the adoption community or a savvy professional, it's important to stay in the know on adoption news, trends and its inner workings. And sometimes the Internet can really dilute one's searches. That's why it's so great that the government created a trustworthy tool that provides access to information on everything adoption-related.

In 1986, Congress passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. This Act established the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, which is currently known as the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

The NAIC/CWIG contains extensive amount of resources and helpful advice about child welfare, abuse and adoption-related topics in a variety of mediums from databases to e-publications.

The main goal of the NAIC/CWIG is to provide families and professionals with the information that they need to strengthen and protect families from the basics on reporting child abuse and neglect to the tips on maintaining permanency.

Additionally, the CWIG consolidates information and services from the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglet Information. Its library of information, provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, include legislation, programs, research and statistics on domestic and international adoption.

The NAIC offers a comprehensive listing of adoption agencies and search groups and it's highly recommended that an adoptee or birth relative contact the NAIC about state registries and other search-related information particular to the state of adoption.