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FCLNY's Adoption Resource Index - NY

 

This index is dedicated to our honorary board chair, Margaret Colin, our inspiration for this project


Nine Months of Power
Adoption: An Act of Great Love

"You have given someone the gift of life and someone else a child to love"
-Bianca Bujan, Adoptee

Welcome to Feminists Choosing Life of New York’s Adoption Resource Index! This guide contains information on adoption in NY for prospective birth mothers and adoptive parents, as well as a list of NY adoption agencies and NY Department of Social Services (DSS) offices. 

 

Our adoption directory also outlines several services and benefits available to prospective birth mothers that are not involved with the foster care system or DSS. It also highlights basic services and benefits for prospective adoptive parents of children either inside or outside of the foster care system.  

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About 18,000 babies in the US are voluntarily placed for domestic infant adoption yearly and each one of them is adopted. An estimated 2 million couples in the US await an infant child to adopt, but only 4% of women in the US with unplanned pregnancies place their children for adoption. Unfortunately, adoption is infrequently presented as an option for women facing unplanned pregnancies. Planned Parenthood offers only one adoption referral for every 81 abortions. 

 

Sadly, approximately 117,000 children await adoption from the foster care system, the overwhelming majority of which are older children. These children are awaiting parents to give them a loving home. 

 

These staggering numbers demonstrate the need for more available information and resources to break the stigma surrounding adoption, and to help prospective birth mothers and adoptive parents courageously enter the adoption process. 

 

As a pro-life feminist organization, FCLNY seeks to provide women with the real opportunity to CHOOSE the best path for her and her child. We embrace all stages of human life; before birth, infancy, adolescence and adulthood. Our index provides birth mothers with information needed to make the powerful choice of adoption. It also provides potential adoptive parents tools for adopting children from infancy to adolescence.

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New York State contains voluntary authorized adoption agencies (adoption agencies) throughout the state. NY adoption agencies work with pregnant women potentially interested in serving as birth mothers, women who choose to give birth to their children and to VOLUNTARILY place them with an adoptive parent or parents.  They also work with prospective adoptive parents, single or married adults with open hearts looking to adopt children. 


NY adoption agencies help with the process of adopting children “who may or may not be in foster care.”

THE RED LIST OF ADOPTION AGENCIES ARE PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON NON-FOSTER CARE ADOPTIONS. THESE ADOPTION AGENCIES ARE PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT FOR PROSPECTIVE BIRTH MOTHERS WHO ARE NOT INVOLVED WITH THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM OR DSS.

 

THE PINK LIST OF ADOPTION AGENCIES ARE PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON FOSTER-CARE ADOPTIONS, THESE AGENCIES ARE OF IMPORT TO PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE PARENTS INTERESTED IN ADOPTING CHILDREN WITHIN THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM. 

 

The GREEN list includes DSS offices throughout the state. DSS offices are not adoption agencies, though they work with families interested in adopting children.  DSS only helps handle the adoption process of children inside the foster care system.  Prospective adoptive parents who wish to adopt children in foster care must first become certified foster care parents. DSS offices and adoption agencies (especially those in PINK below) help with foster care certification and often work together regarding various aspects of the foster care adoption process To better understand the foster parent requirements visit NYS Foster Care.

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Adoption Agencies and DSS offices are categorized according to Six NYS Regions. For locations near you, please reference this regional map to find your COUNTY. FCLNY utilizes this map for geographical categorization purposes only.

This index is a guide, not a comprehensive listing of resources available to birth mother and prospective adoptive parents in New York State. It is provided for informational purposes only.  This index is not meant to be an endorsement of any of the resources listed. 

Click on the NY regional map above or the links below for NY Adoption Agencies near you

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Region 1
Region 2
Region 3

Region 4
Region 5
Region 6

Region 1

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Adoption Agencies
Primary Focus: Adoptions Unrelated to Foster Care

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  • Adoption Choices 

    • (Headquartered  in Albany, See Region 4),  but provides services across all of NY.

    • 518-478-8420

  • Adoption S.T.A.R.

    • 131 John Muir Drive, Amherst, NY 14228

    • 716-639-3900

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Adoption Agencies

Primary Focus: Foster Care Adoptions 

 

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Department of Social Services

Foster Care Adoptions ​

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Region 2 

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Adoption Agencies

Primary Focus: Adoptions Unrelated to Foster Care

 

 

Adoption Agencies 

Primary Focus: Foster Care Adoptions 

 

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Department of Social Services

Foster Care Adoptions

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Region 3

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Adoption Agencies

Primary Focus: Adoptions Unrelated to Foster Care

 

  • Adoption Choices  

    • (Headquartered in Albany, See Region 4) but provides services across all of NY

    • 518-478-8420

  • Adoption S.T.A.R. 

    • (Headquartered in Buffalo, See Region 1), but provides services in Syracuse and Binghamton 

    • 315- 703- 7511 (Syracuse)

    • 607-330-2158 (Binghampton)

  • Family Connections

    • 156 Port Watson St., PO Box 5555, Cortland, NY 13045

    • 607-756-6574

  • New Hope Family Services 

    • 3519 James Street Syracuse, NY 13206

    • 315-437-8300

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Adoption Agencies 

Primary Focus: Foster Care Adoptions 

 

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Department of Social Services

Foster Care Adoptions 

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Region 4

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Adoption Agencies

Primary Focus: Adoptions Unrelated to Foster Care

 

 

Adoption Agencies 

Primary Focus: Foster Care Adoptions 

 

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Department of Social Services

Foster Care Adoptions 

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Region 5

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Adoption Agencies

Primary Focus: Adoptions Unrelated to Foster Care 

 

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Adoption Agencies 

Primary Focus: Foster Care Adoptions 

 

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Department of Social Services

Foster Care Adoptions 

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Region 6

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Adoption Agencies

Primary Focus: Adoptions Unrelated to Foster Care

 

 

Adoption Agencies 

Primary Focus: Foster Care Adoptions 

 

 

Department of Social Services

Foster Care Adoptions

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Anchor 1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6

ADOPTION SERVICES AND BENEFITS FOR PROSPECTIVE BIRTH MOTHERS
AND ADOPTIVE PARENTS

Anchor 2

In NY you can enter into an open or closed adoption.  

 

  • Open adoptions “allow birth mothers to receive updates and photographs and to visit with the adopted child up until he or she is 18 years old, depending on the facts and circumstances of the birth mother and adoptive parents. Many birth parents find that open adoption allows them to watch their child grow and eliminates many of the “what if” questions that come with closed adoptions.” 

  • Closed adoptions disallow contact between the biological mother and adoptive family. 

 


Prospective Birth Mothers

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Comprehensive, life affirming services may be available to birth mothers throughout all nine months of pregnancy and thereafter.  Some services are provided for a more limited duration. Please check with adoption agencies for specific details and information.

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A. Services provided AT NO COST TO BIRTH MOTHERS by adoption agencies and/or adoptive parents that may extend throughout pregnancy and thereafter, may include: 

 

  • WIC Referral. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. This program provides healthy food options, nutrition counseling and breastfeeding support along with money from NY to buy food.

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  • SNAP Referral.  The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a food-related program providing the nutrition and food that is necessary for a healthy pregnancy. 

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  • Medicaid Referral.   Medicaid is affordable or free health insurance for low income-eligible New Yorkers, and includes pregnancy care coverage along with  coverage for hospital stays for birth mothers and babies. 

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  • Maternity Leave Referral.  The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides some employees and independent contractors with time off from work to birth a child and recover mentally and physically. 

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  • Legal - Legal costs and fees related to adoption. Referrals to qualified lawyers in the community for representation and to assure rights are understood and protected. 

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  • Adoption Options Counseling – Open vs. Closed Adoptions.

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  • Wrap-Around Supportive Counseling - May include mental and emotional health counseling or support and referrals to other professionals.  

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  • Empowerment Services – Profiles provided of potential adoptive parents and opportunities to choose the child’s family. 

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  • Housing Referral – Assistance and referrals to appropriate housing.

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  • Medical and hospital fees related to the birth of the child.

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  • Post Adoption Contact Agreement Services – Assistance ensuring legal agreements are honored in open adoptions.

 

B. More Services AT NO COST TO BIRTH MOTHERS.  The reasonable and actual costs of the following may be covered by adoptive parents-  - 60 days prior to birth or approximately 30 days thereafter:   

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  • Transportation. (Pregnancy related)

  • Maternity clothing.

  • Clothing for the child.

  • Housing. 

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Prospective Adoptive Parents

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The adoption process in NY tends to follow general guidelines for families looking to adopt children inside or outside the foster care system via an adoption agency. If after careful consideration prospective adoptive parents decide to adopt, the first step is to choose an adoption agency. The agency helps the family throughout the adoption process which involves, among other things, a home study and assistance with safely matching a child with the family. Once the adoption is complete, the agency helps the family find any post-adoption services they may need. For more comprehensive information regarding the process visit NYS Adoption Services. 

 

A. Grant Opportunities 

 

  • Gift of Adoption The goal of this grant is “to remove prohibitive financial barriers and make possible the adoptions of some of the most vulnerable children in the U.S,” who may or may not be foster care children.  Adoptions can be expensive and this grant enables families, including grandparents and other kin, to adopt needy children by providing funds throughout the adoption. For more information regarding this grant, click on the link above.

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Prospective Adoptive Parents (DSS/Foster Care)
 

A. Services/Benefits

 

  • All costs of adoption, including legal costs, are paid for by NYS and federal funds for parents who adopt children inside the foster care system. 

  • Adoption Subsidies (monthly maintenance payments) may be available for parents who adopt children inside the foster care system that are ‘handicapped’ or ‘hard to place.’

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