Roadmap to Adoption

Once you have decided that adoption is right for you, contact:

• Your local children’s aid society for public adoption
• An adoption agency or individual practitioners who are licensed to facilitate intercountry adoptions for intercountry adoption
• A licensed private adoption agency or licensed individual for private domestic adoption

For public adoption, you must contact the children’s aid society in your area and request an application. Each society handles inquiries differently and the Centralized Adoption Intake Service can help you complete an application. If you are Indigenous, you may explore working with an Indigenous society in your home community.

Once your application is complete and submitted to your local society, they will review it and get back to you.

Once your adoption application is approved by your local children’s aid society, they will advise you if they have a waitlist and will speak to you about completing the mandatory requirements of a homestudy and parent preparation training.

The homestudy includes four-six interviews with an adoption worker from your local society. The interviews usually take place after personal and medical references, criminal record checks and child welfare checks have been received by your CAS. Parent preparation training consists of 27 hours of in-class or online learning. It is called Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE). Private PRIDE training is also available at AdoptOntario – PRIDE.

For caregivers of Indigenous children and youth, you can undergo the HEART and SPIRIT home study and training instead of SAFE AND PRIDE. These tools were developed by ANCFSAO to be culturally appropriate alternatives to SAFE and PRIDE to engage and train caregivers in a way that supports and nurtures the cultures, heritages and identities of Indigenous children and youth.

Once your homestudy is approved and parent training is completed, you are approved to adopt a child from any society across the province.

Your society will contact you if there are children or youth who appear to match the strengths and characteristics of your family. You will receive information about the proposed match and the child or youth will learn information about you. Children and youth have a right to have a say in decisions about who will adopt them. If and when everyone agrees to proceed, introductions will be made. This process can involve many different feelings including excitement, hope or uncertainty. There may be several meetings between you, the child or youth, foster parents, social workers and the child or youth’s significant birth family members.

While you are waiting for a match, it’s an excellent time to deepen or consolidate parent preparation training. You can increase your opportunity to adopt children in a few ways: register on the AdoptOntario databank, learn more about specialized topics or attend regional and provincial adoption events. Learn more about and register for AdoptOntario.

When the child or youth officially move into your home, it is usually referred to as adoption placement. This is an important period of transition in the home to ensure the placement is appropriate for you and the child or youth. It typically lasts at least six months. For some children and youth, it may extend to a year or more, depending on how the transition is going. Your adoption worker will visit regularly during this time to offer advice and support you and your family. Adoptive families have said that this period of time is filled with changes and new experiences. It is important to be empathetic and responsive to the thoughts, needs and behaviours of the child or youth during this transition time.

You may wish to seek additional support through:

• Pathways to Permanence 2 training, a specialized series of classes delivered by the Adoption Council of Ontario for adoptive caregivers who are parenting children who have experienced trauma and loss as part of their history; and
• Parent2Parent Support Network: Parent peer supports provided by Adopt4Life, which provides individual support to parents and caregivers by facilitating support groups and helping parents navigating supports and services in their community. Adopt4life is an association for adoptive parents that has established a community network of adoptive parents that provides resources, education, expertise and peer support to adoptive families who are experiencing or have experienced challenges after adoption placement.