Adoption in New Jersey holds its own specific process requirements. According to this article titled, “New Jersey Adoption: A Few Quick Facts,” there are a few requirements that need to be met prior to adopting in New Jersey, they are as follows.
1.) You must be 18 years old and at least 10 years older than the prospective child to be adopted.
2.) Prospective parents residing outside of New Jersey may adopt a child in New Jersey if the child was born in New Jersey or if the child was adopted through a licensed adoption agency.
3.) All people hoping to adopt in New Jersey must meet certain criteria and law requirements in order to deemed fit to adopt a child.
4.) A home study must be completed by an approved agency before and after the child is in your home.
In addition to the adoption requirements for NJ, this resource above also provides us with the finalization details including court processes, birth parent rights, and legal papers. There’s so much information regarding the adoption process in New Jersey.
You need to study this information if you are in an adoptive situation because all adoption laws and processes change from state to state. That is also why it’s so important to make sure you are receiving the correct information for New Jersey throughout your adoption journey and not another specific state. There are additional resources that I’ve listed below that provide us with even more information about adoption in New Jersey.
This informational resource provides us with information for adoption in New Jersey for domestic adoptions, international adoptions, and foster care adoption. You will also find answers to the many questions others have had throughout their adoption journey. Additionally, this resource discusses basic laws, other state requirements, and contact information for adoption officiators in the state.
A true guide to adoption in New Jersey, this resource provides us with more than 30 topics regarding the process of all different types of adoptions that occur in New Jersey, and the guidelines and laws surrounding them. This informational piece is divided into five separate parts. I have listed these below. This article really goes into detail and provides loads of helpful information for each of the five parts listed below. So, regardless of the type of adoption that you are researching, this article will be a great resource for you to start with if you are just starting out your adoption journey.
1.) General Information About Adopting in NJ
2.) Domestic Infant Adoption
3.) Foster Adoption
4.) International Adoption
5.) Stepparent Adoption
This is a link to extensive information surrounding all of the adoption laws that exist in New Jersey. Here you will find a list of the laws with state statute information for the following areas that are listed below. Taking a look at the information surrounding the adoption laws in New Jersey could help you even before looking into an adoption agency. It will give you an overall basis of some of the information an adoption agency in NJ will provide for you.
“1. Adoption Laws
“1.1 – Consent To Adoption
“1.2 – Criminal Background Checks for Prospective Foster and Adoptive Parents
“1.3 – Grounds For Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights
“1.4 – Home Study Requirements For Prospective Parents In Domestic Adoption
“1.5 – Infant Safe Haven Laws
“1.6 – Regulation Of Private Domestic Adoption Expenses
“1.7 – The Rights of Unmarried Fathers
“1.8 – Use of Advertising and Facilitators In Adoptive Placements
“1.9 – Who May Adopt, Be Adopted, Or Place A Child For Adoption?
“2. Post-Adoption Laws
“2.1 – Access To Adoption Records
“2.2 – Interstate Inheritance Rights For Adopted Persons
“2.3 – Postadoption Contact Agreements Between Birth And Adoptive Families
“3. Laws Related To Intercountry Adoption
“3.1 – Effect And Recognition Of A Foreign Adoption Decree
“3.2 – Readoption After An Intercountry Adoption
“3.3 – Application For A U.S. Birth Certificate
“3.4 – Sources
“3.5 – References”
As you may already know, there’s a lot of information to take in for the adoption process in any state. That is why adoption agencies in NJ are so beneficial to families. Adoption agencies in NJ are ready to assist all parties of an adoption triad in order to make adoption experiences as successful and smooth as can be.
Adoption agencies specialize in adoption and have studied and are certified for knowing the entire adoption process in New Jersey. Therefore, they are able to assist families throughout an adoption. They know the documents that need to be filled out and filed. They know the law processes. They know expecting parents who are looking to place their babies with loving families. With all of the information, paperwork, and processes involved in adoption, it’s much better to have an adoption agency in NJ work with you to ensure that you are following all proper procedures and handling everything in the correct manner throughout the adoption journey.
So, what do adoption agencies in NJ actually do? Lita Jordan actually wrote an article answering this question here titled, “What Does an Adoption Agency Do?”
She wrote, “An adoption agency can most easily be viewed as ‘the middleman.’ Agencies are the intermediary in most adoptive journeys. Agencies are organized to facilitate adoptions and be in service of both birth parents and hopeful adoptive parents. Using an agency to help facilitate the ins and outs of the adoption process is extremely helpful and, often times, required by the state.
“An adoption agency typically provides six different services. These services include matching hopeful adoptive parents with a child, arranging counseling for birth parents, performing a home study, providing education, preparing paperwork, and performing post-placement visits.”
There are three parts to the adoption triad: adoptive parents, biological parents, and the adoptees. Adoption agencies in NJ should have a primary focus and priority of helping all parts of the adoption triad throughout the adoption process. Expecting parents looking to place their babies for adoption need support in many different areas. They need to have resources and professional help throughout adoption placement. These resources will help them through their decision, which will make a great difference in their overall adoption story.
Prospective adoptive parents are greatly impacted by adoption agencies because of the support they provide during the adoption process. The adoption agencies step in and help prospective adoptive parents through the home study process, filing paperwork, and meeting specific criteria that is required by the state of New Jersey. Adoptees benefit the most when the birth parents and adoptive parents receive all the support and resources that they need throughout the adoption process. These adoption agencies help shape the relationships for a lot of open adoptions, which directly affects the adoptee in the long run. This is another reason why it’s so important to choose the correct adoption agency that will work best for your adoption story.
Virginia Spence breaks down the differences between adoption agencies that are nonprofit vs. for-profit in an article titled, “What are Nonprofit and For-Profit Adoption Agencies?”
She stated, “Basically, there is not a huge difference in the operations of a nonprofit adoption and a for-profit adoption agency. Most assuredly, both nonprofit and for-profit agencies can and do make money. The difference is in how the money is obtained, the intended use of the money, and distribution of ‘profit.’” This may give you an interesting look into adoption agencies way before you ever look into finding one for your adoptive situation. Regardless if an adoption agency in NJ is nonprofit or for-profit, I believe that anyone looking into adoption agencies will base their decisions on their moral beliefs and process organizations.
So, how do you go about finding the best adoption agencies in NJ?
Choosing the best adoption agency that is right for you will ultimately be your decision, but here are a couple of pointers regarding how to decide. Keep your options open as you meet with different adoption agencies in NJ. As you research adoption agencies in NJ, make sure to write down all the positive things about each agency and every concern that you had as well. Keep track of the questions that were asked and important things to remember for each one. Keeping these things documented will help you as you continue to search through the many different adoption agencies. I’m sure you will get an extremely great feeling when you find the adoption agency that is going to work best for you and your family.
Adoption.com provides an awesome tool for searching through adoption agencies in NJ. They have an adoption provider search by state, which makes it easy to look up different adoption agencies in NJ. This tool can be found here. Once you have selected New Jersey as your state of choice, you will be directed to this NJ directory here. This is a great place to start when searching through adoption agencies in NJ. I found two adoption service providers here at this resource and I have listed the information I found on each one below.
This adoption agency in NJ is based out of the city of Cherry Hill. Adoptions From The Heart provides full adoption services and is a nonprofit adoption agency that specializes in open adoption. They have been providing these services for over 30 years and are certified in the state of New Jersey as well as other surrounding states. The link above will provide you additional information such as phone, email contact, and address information if you’d like to request additional information from them.
Homestudies and Adoption Placement Services
This adoption agency in NJ is based out of the city of Teaneck and sometimes goes by HAPS for short. Their slogan reads “building families for life.” Take a look at their mission statement and license information that is provided below:
“Homestudies & Adoption Placement Services (HAPS) is a non-profit Hague accredited adoption agency initially licensed in New Jersey in 1982. Our initial purpose was to provide homestudies for families seeking to adopt internationally and domestically. In our early years we assisted families seeking to adopt from the United States as well as Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Romania and Russia. In 2011 we were approved to provide adoption services in New York. Currently we offer services to assist families by acting as an ASP/Primary Provider for non Hague countries in relation to the UAA. We also provide specific services for those wanting to adopt from Jamaica, Guyana and Ukraine and can provide services on a case by case basis in other non-Hague countries.
“Programs and services provided by HAPS include full service pre-adoption homestudy evaluations and counseling, placement services and post-adoption services for all members of the adoption triad. Lorraine Kolankowksi, MSW, LCSW is the current Executive Director. She is a licensed social worker in both New Jersey and New York and has worked in the field of adoption for over 35 years. HAPS’ professional staff are licensed and certified social workers with expertise in adoption, providing ethical, compassionate service to all our clients.”
Their link provided above will also give you additional information such as their website, address, phone, and email contact information in case you would like to contact them further.
Finding an adoption agency in NJ may seem like an overwhelming task. However, if there are any local adoption resources in your area, you should contact them. They may be able to direct you toward a recommended adoption agency that is in your city or near your city. Or you may be able to find a listing of licensed adoption agencies in your area or surrounding cities. This local list may then help you narrow down your search.
Visiting all the adoption agencies in NJ that are in your area or surrounding cities will be a great start. Remember to keep a notebook with you and write down everything you liked or disliked about each adoption agency. Keep track of all the pamphlets and informational documents you receive from the different adoption agencies. Also, remember to make a list of the questions that were asked and the answers that were received for each agency. I wish you the best of luck with your adoption agency search in the state of New Jersey!
Visit Adoption.com’s photolisting page for children who are ready and waiting to find their forever families. For adoptive parents, please visit our Parent Profiles page where you can create an incredible adoption profile and connect directly with potential birth parents.
