Congratulations on becoming an adoptive family!
Adopting is not only a joy for you, it is a valuable service to your community. You have opened your heart and your home to a child in need. You are caring for a child who was waiting for a new start.

Most parents will agree, raising children is a thrill. It also is a challenge. Parenting may be new territory for you or you may already have experience parenting other children. In all cases, it is best, to take steps now to work out a strong financial plan. Good financial planning is one sure way to prepare for the future. And raising children is a life-long experience.

Your community offers a variety of resources to assist you in making your adoption experience successful and financially possible. The Adoption Exchange, Child Welfare League of America, and Adoption Exchange Association have partnered with the National Endowment for Financial Education to help you connect to those resources. The Financial Strategies and Resources for Adoptive Families Web site is the National Endowment for Financial Education’s project.

The Web site features guidelines for good financial management for adoptive parents.
Of special focus is the financial assistance available through federal and state adoption subsidy programs for adoptive parents of United States children with special needs.

• A federal adoption subsidy program (Title IV-E: Adoption Assistance, Administration, Training) exists to ensure that families who want to adopt U.S. children with special needs can do so without reducing or exhausting their personal resources. Families who are caring for U.S. children with special needs are entitled to obtain subsidy support if they cannot meet their adoptive children’s varied—and often costly—needs.
• State adoption subsidy programs complement the federal adoption subsidy program.
• Assistance is available for U.S. children with special needs adopted through private or public agencies. Independent adoptions of U.S. children with special needs, those negotiated via a private attorney, are not eligible for federal or state funds.

This Web site also features valuable resources for post-adoption services that will support your family’s personal finance strategies.

We include information that is general for all adoptive parents as well as information that is specific for parents of foster care children, for military families, and for parents of children of ethnicities different from their own.

© 2006 National Endowment for Financial Education. All rights reserved.

This Web site is meant to provide general financial information; it is not meant to substitute for, or to supersede, professional or legal advice.

The content areas in the material on this Web site are believed to be current as of the time the site was created, but, over time, legislative and regulatory changes, as well as new developments, may date this material.