ADOPTION SERVICES

Bethanna's first priority, when a child comes into foster care, is to safely reunite the child and parents. However, when it is not possible for a child to return to his/her biological family, Bethanna seeks adoptive families to ensure the child has a permanent home. Bethanna, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN), provides adoption services for families and children/teens that live within one hour of any of our four offices (Philadelphia, Southampton, Media, and Lancaster).

Bethanna has been completing adoptions since the early 1990s. We currently have 15 workers and 4 supervisors, as well as, a number of contract workers (including previous employees) working as a team to support families throughout the entire adoption process. In 2010, Bethanna finalized 104 adoptions. We also complete adoption work for four specific agencies in the Philadelphia area that do not have adoption licenses and for a variety of agencies (per county department request) in the southeast and south central regions of Pennsylvania.


  • What are the goals of the Adoption Program?

  • What is required of Bethanna adoptive parents?

  • What type of Adoption Services are provided?

  • Frequently Asked Questions about Adoption

  • How can I learn more?

  • Myths about Adoption

  • Statistics about Children Who are Waiting for Adoptive Homes

    • What are the Goals of Bethanna's Adoption Program?

    1.    To provide a child with a family who commits to a lifetime relationship.
    2.    To help families assess their strengths and challenges in meeting the special needs of children in the foster care system.
    3.    To provide trainings for families interested in adoption covering a variety of adoption topics.
    4.    To prepare both the child and the family for the adoption through a variety of services before, during and after the adoption.

    What is required of Bethanna Adoptive Parents?

  • Be capable of setting clear boundaries and providing structure.

  • Give constant love even if a child does not respond.

  • Appreciate small steps in growth.

  • Be flexible and forgiving.

  • Commit to a lifelong relationship.

  • Foster a safe and nurturing environment that meet a child's educational, social, emotional, and economic needs.

  • Complete adoption orientation trainings and the application packet paperwork.

  • Meet with an adoption worker for a series of interviews.

  • Cooperate with the adoption social worker who will provide post placement supervision in the home beginning when the family profile is approved by the county until the finalization hearing is completed.


    • What type of Adoption Services are provided?


  • Foster Parent Adoption

    • Many of the adoptions Bethanna facilitates are with foster parents and kinship parents adopting the foster child already placed in their home. After a child's parental rights are terminated and a foster family is interested in adopting the child in their care, Bethanna's Adoption Department will assess the foster family and complete a family profile. Bethanna also completes family profiles and finalizations for foster families from other agencies that do not have an adoption license.

  • Special Needs Adoption

    • Most of the adoptions we facilitate involve children in the custody of a County Children and Youth agency. The majority are considered special needs children who are:

  • Age 5 or older

  • Members of a minority group

  • A sibling group placed together

  • Living with emotional, physical or learning disabilities

  • Infants at risk of a disability due to genetic or environmental factors

  • Private Adoption

    • Bethanna completes family profiles and provides post placement supervision and reports for private or international adoption situations. Families must reside in PA. Typically, these families are working with another agency outside of the area that will complete the legal paperwork and finalization.

  • Orientation and Ongoing Training

    • Bethanna provides training for people interested in foster care and adoption. These trainings are offered for free and cover topics such as the approval process, grief and loss, child development, and abuse issues as well as other pertinent topics. Once a family is approved for either or both foster care and adoption, they will be invited to ongoing trainings throughout the year offered by Bethanna's Training Department.

  • Family Profiles

    • The family profile process includes collecting application paperwork from the family, interviewing the applicant(s) and other household members, and completing a home safety check. Discussion during the Family Profile process includes the social worker and family together assessing whether or not the family is a good fit for the children who are available for adoption. Before the typed profile is sent to a child's custodial county for approval the family reviews the report for accuracy.

  • Family Profile Updates

    • A number of families adopt more than once. Bethanna will update the family's previous family profile and help the family update any expired application paperwork.

  • Matching Services

    • For families who have an approved family profile by Bethanna and do not have a child identified, we will help the family through the matching process that includes considering children within Bethanna's foster care program as well as throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
    Click Here to view Children in need of Adoptive Homes

  • Child Profiles

    • Every child in Pennsylvania with a goal of adoption or permanent legal custodianship receives a comprehensive report called a child profile. The profile includes information on the child's social, medical, educational, psychological and placement history. When a family is approved for the adoption of the child, they receive a copy of the child profile.

  • Child-Specific Recruitment

    • This service specializes in finding homes for older children or children with more challenging medical or behavioral issues.

  • Child Preparation

    • Adoption workers meet with a child/teen and at times the caregiver to help a child understand his history in preparation for the future. Usually the worker meets with the child for 10 sessions over 6 months. Different creative activities or talking with the child is used to help the child/teen process his feelings. This does not take the place of therapy. This is a service that was initially for children/teens with the goal of adoption but SWAN (Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network) now offers this service for children with permanency goals other than adoption.

  • Coordination of Adoption Finalization

    • Once Bethanna and a child's custodial county agency) have approved a family for a child, the Bethanna adoption worker will help the family through the adoption legal paperwork process including recommending adoption lawyers. Most of the time there are no costs associated with the legal process if a family is adopting a child out of the foster care system.

  • Post-Permanency Services

    • A family does not need to worry that once an adoption or PLC is completed they will be on their own. Bethanna, through the SWAN program, is able to offer families post perm services after a finalization takes place for a period of six months anytime until the child turns 18. These services can include support group, helping to find and pay for respite, and case management.


    Frequently asked questions about Adoption

    1.    Who are the children that need adoptive homes?

    As a SWAN (Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network) Affiliate, Bethanna specializes in helping children in the foster care system who cannot return home, find permanent families. Once it is determined a child can no longer be reunified with a birth parent or birth relative, and the parents' rights are terminated in court, the child becomes eligible for adoption. Most children will have resided in foster care or other out-of-home placements for at least twelve to eighteen months prior to becoming eligible for adoption. The child may have also had multiple placements in foster care during that time. Currently in the state of Pennsylvania, there are hundreds of children whose goal is adoption; however, do not have an adoptive family identified.

    These children vary in age, ethnicity, and special needs. The type of child you are interested in can be discussed in detail with your adoption social worker. We request all adoptive parents be open to their home being approved as a foster home, as the majority of placements for adoption involve the adoptive family acting as foster parents initially. This means at the time of placement, the child remains in the custody of the county children and youth agency, and parental rights may or may not be terminated. These are considered legal risk placements.

    Click Here to view Children in need of Adoptive Homes


    2.    How would I be matched with a specific child?  

    Once a family has completed the necessary orientation classes and a family profile has been completed and approved by Bethanna, the family is assigned to the family matching specialist, who helps identify a particular child. The family also has the opportunity to view different websites or attend matching events where they have the opportunity to meet with a child and/or his adoption worker to discuss if that child would be appropriate for their family. The family matching specialist is available to answer any of the family's specific questions, as well as possibly attend any interviews for a specific child.

    3.    Is it expensive to adopt a child?

    When adopting from the foster care system, costs for a family are minimal. Attorney fees are usually paid by the county that has custody of the child. Most children are eligible for an adoption subsidy that might include a daily reimbursement, as well as medical coverage. The adoptive family is responsible for providing a complete physical for every one living in the home. FBI, child abuse and criminal history clearances may be the responsibility of families for themselves and any household members over a certain age.

    For private adoptions, the adoptive family is responsible for the costs of FBI, child abuse and criminal history clearances, physical examinations for each applicant, adoption family profile, attorney fees, and other related paperwork.

    4.    How long does it take to adopt?

     Each family must attend trainings prior to being matched with a child. Prior to being approved as an adoptive family, the family must also have a completed Family Profile. The time for this process depends on different factors, including availability of the family to meet with the social worker and collecting the documents necessary to complete the application. Periods will vary to be matched with a specific child depending on the type of child the family desires. While we understand the process may feel overwhelming and tedious, our goal is to help children and families experience lifetime connections with each other. Our goal is finding families for children rather than finding children for families.  

    How can I learn more?

    Take the first step in the adoption process. Call Bethanna for information about adopting a child who is waiting for a family. We want to meet you and answer your questions. Bethanna will work with you to identify a child who would best fit into your family.


    For more information about becoming an Adoptive Parent

    Contact:  Karen Mummau, kmummau@bethanna.org
    Adoption Worker
    717-299-1926 or 800-989-1926

    Statistics about Children Who are Waiting for Adoptive Homes

    www.chidlwelfare.gov/adoption/foster/children
    The average age of children waiting to be adopted from foster care is 8 1/2 years old. Many state child welfare agencies are implementing specific services to help preteen and teenage youth find permanent families.

    Many of the children in foster care waiting for adoption are members of sibling groups. Child welfare professionals recognize the importance of sibling bonds and often try to identify adoptive families that will keep siblings together.

    Almost two-thirds of the children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted are children of minority races or ethnicities. Many State and local agencies have developed programs focusing on helping these children transition from foster care to permanent adoptive families.

    Some of the children in foster care waiting for adoption have physical or emotional disabilities. Child welfare agencies may undertake targeted or child-specific recruitment efforts to help these children find permanent families.

    For more information on Pennsylvania's waiting children, please visit these websites: Pennsylvania Adoption Exchange www.adoptpakids.org and Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network's (SWAN) Prime Contractor  www.diakon-swan.org