ADOPTION IN
Colorado
Domestic Infant Adoptions can be completed through an adoption agency in order to adopt domestically.
International Adoptions must be completed through an adoption agency in order to adopt internationally.
Foster Care Adoptions in Colorado can be completed through the Colorado Department of Human Services (970-241-8480).
Gallery of children waiting to be adopted.
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The information contained on this website is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional legal advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed and qualified professional. While the content of this website is frequently updated, information changes rapidly and therefore, some information may be out of date, and/or contain inaccuracies, omissions or typographical errors.
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Can I Adopt in Colorado?
Applicants must be 21 or older. Applicants must be able to pass a background check. Parents must complete a home study. In order to foster, parents are required to receive 27 hours of training. The home must meet state safety requirements and have enough room for the child or teen. Parents must be physically, emotionally, and mentally fit to care for a child.
What Adoption Regulations Exist in Colorado?
Advertising: No person or organization other than county departments or child placing agencies licensed in Colorado shall offer, give, charge, or receive money in connection with finding a child, natural parent, or prospective adoptive parent for adoption. Physicians and attorneys may still charge fees for regular services rendered.
Relinquishment: Consent can be executed any time after the birth of the child. Parents may only revoke if within 91 days after submitting a relinquishment order, they prove to the court that consent came under fraud or duress.
Birth parent expenses: Physician and attorney fees, as well as any other fees approved in court are allowed.
Post-adoption contact agreements: Birth and hopeful adoptive parents can enter a voluntary agreement establishing the amount of contact after adoption finalization, but these agreements are not legally enforceable.
Birth father rights: While no paternity registry exist in the state of Colorado, unmarried fathers can still take certain actions to establish paternity and thereby receive notice of adoption proceedings.
Alternate means include obtaining an expert's opinion concerning the statistical probability that the man is the father based on the length/time of the pregnancy, genetic testing, and other medical evidence based on tests performed by experts.
Finalization: While no required time frame for the child to live with adoptive parents before finalization exist in Colorado, out of 717 adoptions in 2014 the average time between termination of parental rights and adoption finalization was 13.2 months (acf.hhs.gov).
Is Adoption Assistance Available in Colorado?
Many of the children waiting to be adopted in Colorado have special needs. Federal (Title IV-E) and state (non-IV-E) programs exist to help adoptive parents meet their child’s needs. In Colorado, monthly payments fluctuate because each county sets and negotiates its own monthly rate. To see if your child qualifies for adoption assistance, please visit NACAC.org.
Can I adopt a Child from another country?
It is always possible to adopt a child from another country, even if you live in the U.S.. In Colorado, readoption (the process by which a U.S. state court issues a final adoption decree separate from a foreign adoption decree stating that the child has been legally adopted according to the laws of a particular state) is an option, but not a requirement.
However, only when the readoption or validation of a foreign adoption decree occurs can the child receive a U.S. birth certificate (ChildWelfare.gov). For more information on how to adopt a child internationally, be sure to contact your local adoption agency.
State Contacts
Gallery of children waiting to be adopted:
https://adoption.com/photolisting?page=1&search_type=region&range=UnitedStates
State subsidy contact person:
Constance Vigil
Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS)
1575 Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80203-1714
303-866-3209 • Fax: 303-866-5563
Summary
Adoptions in Colorado can be completed through the Colorado Department of Human Services.
Applicants must be 21 or older. You must pass a background check. Parents must complete a home study. Foster parents are required to receive 27 hours of training.
No person or organization other than county departments or child placing agencies licensed in Colorado shall offer, give, charge, or receive money in connection with finding a child, natural parent, or prospective adoptive parent for adoption.
Consent can be executed any time after the birth of the child. In order to revoke, parents have 91 days from relinquishment to prove in court consent came under fraud or duress.
Physician and attorney fees, as well as any other fees approved in court are allowed. Contact agreements are not legally enforceable. No paternity registry exists in Colorado.
The average time between TPR and adoption finalization in 2014 was 13.2 months.
