Overview

Amara believes there is no substitute for safe, nurturing families to ensure children grow up to be healthy, confident, loving, and contributing adults.  Through over eight decades of service, we have watched thousands of children blossom and thrive in the warmth and stability of their new, adoptive homes. Many of these children have known grief, fear and pain beyond their young years.  Today we focus our main efforts on the thousands of Washington state infants and children who have been removed from their birth homes through no fault of their own and are currently in the foster care system waiting to be adopted.  We also serve at-risk newborns relinquished directly to Amara; children whose birthparents believe an adoptive family will better provide them the protection, attention and care needed to learn and grow.  Our job is to find and prepare adoptive parents for foster and at-risk children, to provide these parents with the education and support they need to welcome and embrace these children, and to create healthy, well-bonded families.  We have no single definition of “family” and are proud to offer our services to everyone age 21 or older, regardless of marital status, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, home ownership, income, or education.  Together we can help ensure a home for every child.

Available Children

The children we place in adoptive homes come from a variety of backgrounds.  The foster children in need of permanent families include newborns, toddlers, and children of all ages and ethnicities.  They are seeking parents that will welcome just them or will embrace their siblings as well.  For their safety and protection, they were removed from home environments of instability, trauma, and neglect, yet they continue to show amazing resiliency and grace.  Because of their experiences, many of these children need extra time and support to heal, to learn to trust and to catch up with their peers.  Again and again we have seen our adoptive families provide the nurturing and guidance these children need to succeed.  Again and again families report the amazing leaps their children make once they know and understand they are home.

Amara also finds homes for infants relinquished by their birthparents directly into our care.  These birthparents are facing challenges that they believe will keep them from providing their children with the life they deserve.  These challenges may include economic hardship, young age, depression, mental illness, addiction (drug, alcohol, gambling), or simply the feeling of being overwhelmed by a multitude of stressors at this time in their lives.  Sometimes these infants face challenges as well, due to prenatal drug or alcohol exposure or to lack of consistent prenatal care.  In all cases, Amara provides to the prospective adoptive family all known medical information on the child as well as the known social and medical history of the birthparents.  We work to help each adoptive family determine their ability to parent children from different backgrounds, to understand each family’s level of comfort with known and unknown risk, and to support each family with the information and services needed to succeed.

Support to our Families

Amara provides a high level of services to our adoptive parents to help ensure that no child is brought into a family that is not fully prepared to meet that child’s lifelong need for love, safety and belonging.  We understand that adoption is a life-changing event for all involved and are committed to investing maximum resources and support to ensure the best possible match between child and family.  We take seriously our dual role of home study assessor and family support professional; the common goal being to identify each family’s strengths and to help each family grow in their areas of less preparedness.  Our Adoption and Foster Care Specialists work one-on-one with each family through each stage of the process.  We make frequent, scheduled visits to our families’ homes and are always available by phone or email to help with questions and concerns.   We work closely as a clinical team to bring to each family the benefit of our staff’s combined education and experience in the fields of social work, mental health, education, and family therapy.  We make certain our families receive the support and services they need throughout the process to ensure their successful independence following their adoption finalization.

Process

• Application- Amara’s adoption process begins with an information packet for families to review.  Prospective applicants are then required to attend a free adoption information meeting to learn more about the children we place and the families we serve, as well as about the adoption process in general.  These monthly meetings are open to the public and include a staff presentation as well as a chance to speak with a previous adoptive family. Attendees are then invited to schedule an individual meeting with an Amara staff member.  If, at the end of this individual meeting, we believe we can successfully serve your family, you will be given an application packet and welcomed to join us.  At all points in the pre-application process, we encourage families to perform due diligence in their search for the right adoption agency.  The adoption process is long and often emotional; we think it highly important that families learn as much as they can before making a final choice and are always open to answering questions from prospective clients.

• Home Study/Family Development- Once the application is complete, an Amara Adoption and Foster Care Specialist is assigned to each family.  This caseworker will meet with your family several times over the succeeding months, guiding you through the home study assessment and foster licensing process and preparing you for the child search, matching, transition and placement ahead.   Families must attend several trainings prior to home study approval, including the 30-hour P.R.I.D.E. course required for a Washington state foster license, Amara’s “Focusing on the Needs of the Child: Openness in Foster Care and Adoption,” and CPR/First Aid classes.  Amara offers other trainings and events, including “Trans-Racial Adoption,” “Life Book Creation,” and a monthly information and support group which all are welcome to attend.  Each prospective adoptive parent must complete an autobiography following a standard template and each family must prepare a parenting resource plan.  With the help of their caseworker and others in their community, each family must learn about the needs of various children from various backgrounds and must understand and communicate their own vision of family. 
• Child Search and Placement- Once a family has an approved home study and has been issued a foster home license, the search for their child can begin.  On a daily basis Amara receives referrals for Washington state children who are seeking temporary or permanent placements.  Your caseworker will review each referral in an effort to find a potential match for your family.  Amara also receives monthly bulletins from Oregon state on children seeking adoptive homes, which are regularly shared with our families.  Finally, our pregnancy and parenting unit advises our adoption caseworkers of all birthparents seeking to relinquish their infants for placement.   When a potential match is identified, your caseworker will work closely with you and with the child’s representative (State caseworker or Amara birthparent counselor) to determine the ultimate viability of the match.  Following a match decision, a transition plan will be established appropriate to the needs of the child, with permanent placement as the ultimate goal. 
• Post-Placement/ Finalization- Once a child is placed in your home, your caseworker will continue until finalization to monitor the placement and to provide the guidance and support needed to help your family bond and grow. We provide ongoing family advocacy with state systems and remain readily available and quickly responsive to your questions and concerns. Prior to your finalization, Amara will help foster/adopt families secure support from the State’s Adoption Assistance program that may continue to provide resources until your child reaches adulthood.  At your invitation, your Amara caseworker will be honored to attend your child’s adoption finalization and to celebrate this wonderful moment with you.
• Post-Finalization- After your finalization, Amara remains a resource to our families in two primary ways.  We are here as an information and referral source on matters concerning children and parenting and, in many cases we remain a conduit for communication between adoptive families and birth families.  In this latter role, we support the concept and success of open adoption – helping to fulfill a child’s need to understand his or her life history.

Costs

Amara’s services to families and children cost a great deal more than we take in through our adoption fees.  In an ongoing effort to recruit families for children in need, we do our best to minimize monetary costs to foster/adopt families.  Instead, we look to our foster/adopt families to prepare themselves to provide the lifelong love and nurturing that will help these children flourish. 

Amara’s fees for adopting a child from foster care include:

Amara’s fees for adopting a relinquished infant are significantly higher.  These fees cover the legal costs of relinquishment and help subsidize the extensive work of our Pregnancy and Parenting caseworkers in providing counseling and support to birthparents. 

Amara’s fees for adopting a child relinquished to Amara include:

Families will need to hire their own attorney for the actual finalization court process.  These costs vary among adoption attorneys. 

Please contact our agency directly for details on fees for families coming to Amara with a home study written by another agency, for families seeking expedited services, or for families who have identified a child and are seeking only home study and post placement services. 

Financial Assistance

• Washington State Adoption Support One-Time Reimbursement- Families who adopt children from foster care are eligible for up to $1,500 reimbursement of one-time adoption expenses from the State of Washington.
• Washington State Continuing Adoption Support- Families who adopt from the foster care system or special needs children who qualify for this program prior to finalization may apply for ongoing assistance from the Adoption Support Program. Eligible children may receive benefits until age 18; benefits vary and may be renegotiated in subsequent years.
• Federal Adoption Tax Credit- Taxpayers may claim a nonrefundable credit on Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses, of up to $11,390 for each eligible child in 2007 and $11,650 in 2008.  For more detailed information regarding the Adoption Tax Credit, visit http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html.  Please consult a qualified tax expert for advice on your personal circumstances.
• Military Reimbursement- Active-duty military families can receive reimbursement of up to $2,000 for adoption costs.
• Employer Programs- Many businesses help employees adopt children by offering a range of benefits.  For more information, contact your employer’s Human Resources department, or visit www.adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org for a listing of some employers offering adoption benefits.
• Many outside resources are available to families needing financial assistance, including subsidies, loans and grants. 

Getting Started

Request an information packet online, by email at amara@amaraparenting.org, or call (206) 260-1700.