Ready to grow your family? Let’s make forever happen together.
Becoming an adoptive parent is a powerful way to create a forever home filled with love, stability, and hope for a child. Our dedicated team will support you every step of the way to ensure you feel prepared and encouraged throughout your adoption journey.
The Adoption Process
At Lifespan Family Services, we’re proud to be an affiliate of the SWAN program—working hand-in-hand with Pennsylvania’s statewide adoption network to find forever families for children in need. Our adoption services cover everything from family and child profiles to finalization and post-permanency support, ensuring every step is filled with care and commitment. Ready to learn how we can help you grow your family? Let’s start this journey together.
Family Profiles
Developing a family profile is like creating a biography of a family wanting to adopt. Potential adoptive families must undergo a process of sharing information with the adopting agency, including home visits, interviews with family members, background checks, character references, and more. A profile is then created to match families with waiting children.
Child Profiles
Also offered through the SWAN program are child profiles, which are a comprehensive summary of the child’s life history. At Lifespan Family Services, we work hard to include as many details as possible, including educational history, vaccination history, standardized test results, school attendance, medical and dental records, and more. This can help match children with families with a strong common interest when more information is available.
Child-Specific Recruitment
Identifying adoptive resources for children in the custody of a county agency is the role of our child-specific recruitment at Lifespan Family Services. If a child is getting adopted or their foster parents do not desire to provide a permanent home, we can then unite a child with a home that is a good match based upon their personal history and current beliefs, etc.
Child Preparation
Here at Lifespan Family Services, we believe it is important to provide children with an optimal understanding of the adoption/permanency process and help them work through the potential difficulties in finding a permanent home. With our Child Preparation program, we can also help them retain their biological family history and help them transition into a new fulfilling life while respecting their former household(s). This service can also assist the child in transitioning back to their home of origin after an absence.
Placement
Our placement service at Lifespan Family Services is the physical relocation of a child into a pre-adoptive living situation. This can be with the prospective adoptive parent or parents. When placement occurs without termination of parental biological rights, it is considered to be a legal risk placement. Our experienced team utilizes all available tools to ensure a match is quality-lasting and meets all involved parties’ needs.
Adoption Finalization
Adoption finalization is the last legal step in the adoption process. Once finalized, the adoptive parents have legal rights and responsibilities for the child. Our team works closely with all parties to guide those involved through this process as efficiently as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to make a difference? Dive in!
A family profile is basically your story—the who, what, and why of your family’s journey to adoption. It includes interviews, home visits, background checks, and more. This profile helps match you with children who are the best fit for your family.
Child profiles give a detailed picture of the child’s history—school records, medical info, interests, and family background—so potential adoptive families can make informed matches.
Sometimes children need families tailored to their unique needs or history. Child-specific recruitment focuses on finding the right family match for these kids, especially if their current foster family isn’t able to adopt.
We help kids understand the adoption process, work through their feelings, and maintain connections to their biological families while making a smooth transition to their new home.
Placement is when a child moves into their potential adoptive home. It’s a careful process to ensure the match is solid and safe, even if biological parental rights haven’t been finalized yet.
This is the last legal step where adoptive parents gain full rights and responsibilities. Our team supports families through this process to make it as smooth and timely as possible.
Every adoption journey is different. The timeline depends on many factors, including matching, legal steps, and the child’s needs. We’ll guide you through each phase with support and transparency.
Yes! We review each family’s situation individually to ensure the child’s safety and well-being. Pets, home environment, and family dynamics are all part of the assessment.
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