About Adoption

San Bernardino County Adoption Services is a public adoption agency that serves the needs of children and families. We are so excited that you would like to get to know us and the children that we care for.


The Children:

• Children range in age from birth to teenagers.

• Children come from all ethnicities, and from all kinds of families.

• Some are single children and others are part of a sibling set who want to stay together.

• Most of these children have not had the security of a stable home or of committed parents. They have not had someone to teach them that the world can be a safe place. No one has taught them their ABCs or colors. They may have never been to a park, or a zoo, or to the beach. Everyday with your family will be full of new discoveries of those things that many of us take for granted... laughing, talking, working our differences without hitting, caring for each other within a family.

• Some have learning problems, medical problems, or just have trouble trusting adults. Self-esteem is often low.

• Some love school, others find school difficult, some sing or dance or play musical instruments, some are athletic, and some are creative, some like to be rowdy and some quiet, some like to laught and some need to learn to joke and plan, some need to know that there will always be food to eat and a bed to sleep in, some need to know that they are children, not miniature adults, some need to know how families care about each other and love each other - no matter what. In other words, they are just children who need what all children need - a home and family to call their own.
  
  

As a Fos-dopt or adoptive parent, we will work with you to help you decide:

• What kind of child or children would you most like to parent?

• What kind of child will "fit" best with other children in your home?

• What is unique about your family?

• How can you share yourself with a child who really needs a mom or dad or family just like yours?

• How do you help children attach to you and become "yours"?

Ways in which San Bernardino County Adoptions will help you:

• Adoption does not have to take "forever." There are children currently waiting for a family like yours. You will be contacted by a social worker within a few weeks of submitting an application and the "getting to know you" process takes just 16-20 weeks. Placement can occur any time after that.

• You are making a lifetime decision to parent. We will help you decide how you can best do that by providing training, helping you network with other families, and providing you with a caring, compassionate, trained social worker who will see you as a resource for the children who need you.

• We will provide a social worker that has special training in adoption and permanency planning to help you discover the strengths and special abilities of your family. You already know that your family is loving, flexible, committed, and loves children. We will help find a child who needs a family just like yours.

• There is paperwork to do, but we will make it as easy as possible for you to provide the information we need to find the child that you can best parent.

• We will provide flexible hours so the majority of working with your social worker can be done in the evening, if that works best for you.

• We can provide financial and medical assistance until the child is 18 years old, to help you open up your home and heart to a child who needs you.

• Working parents are fine; you don't need to be an at-home parent to adopt.

• We can provide on-going training and counseling for the child and family as you get to know each other.

Answers to frequently asked questions:

•  You don't need to be rich to adopt, you just need to be able to support yourself.

• You don't need to own your own home, just have a separate bed for a child.

• You can have no children already, or a house full of children. Experience with children is helpful, but not a must.

• The fee for adoption is $500, but that can be reduced or waived.

• You can be a single parent.

• There do not have to be any legal fees for you to pay.

We are excited that you are considering parenting one or more of our children. Please talk to us about how we can help you make a difference in the life of a child.

For more information, call the San Bernardino County Adoption Service at:

(909) 891-3300 or 1-800-722-4477

or write to:

County Adoption Service
412 Hospitality Lane
San Bernardino, CA 92415