How do you research find agencies?

DemoMSC

How do you research/find trusted agencies in your area? I live in Sacramento California and don't know anyone who has adopted or even where to begin. ANY information would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!

517butterfly

I googled at the beginning to find area agencies.  I think there are also lists of state agencies on adoption.com.  Adoption for Dummies is also a great reference book & gives a lot of info on what to look for in an agency.  HTH!

Dr.Loretta

I literally randomly cast about looking for resources. Google, websites (resolve.org, adoption.org, adoption.com), superpages.com, even the local phone book. There are also Yahoo groups that can give feedback on particular agencies you're interested in. I'm using them as a resource as well.

BabySweetPeasMom

Like others, I started online.  I googled my area, then the state.  But as I was doing that I was also keeping in contact with, and meeting new friends online (I was keeping a journal on another website and met several friends there).  I was also subtly asking around, friends and family were too, about experiences anyone might have had. One gave me the name of her facilitator (actually based in CA) and I added that to "the list" that we did extra research on and applied for.  That's actually the one we ended up going with. 

 So online and networking

 

karalee402

It's important to remember, too, that you don't have to stay in your state.  We adopted from Utah but we live in KY.  Different states have different laws - I know CA, specifically is tough for adoptive parents.  Birthmoms often have a long period of revocation (time to change their minds).  Utah, for example, was a state with laws friendly to adoptive families. 

It's important, too, to ask questions about how many families they have on their waiting list (we work only with agencies with no waiting list), how many placements they do in a typical month, how much care and counseling they give their birthmoms (this was really important to us - we wanted a good, ethical agency who treated their birthmoms with respect). 

Adoption for Dummies is a great resource.  If you have specific questions about specific agencies, feel free to contact me; I'd be happy to let you know if I've ever worked with them and what my experience was.

Good luck!  It's such an awesome journey:)

Dragonfly_Bride

Hi there! I'm not in Sacramento, but about 90 miles away in the bay area. The above posters gave you some good ideas... I don't know of any agencies in Sacramento, but there quite a few women here who have used Lifetime Adoption (facilitator, not an agency) located in the Colfax area.

CaptainSerious

In addition to the books mentioned, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adoption and The Complete Adoption Book are good resources.  I think each one (along with Adoption for Dummies) has a section on how to chose an agency, things to look for, and questions to ask them.  They also give a pretty good idea of adoption and the issues related to it, in general.

The yahoo groups for researching agencies are "AARD" (Adoption Agency Research - Domestic) and "Adoption Agency Research" (for international agencies).  I highly recommend checking any agency you are considering in either of those two places.  You can post a question about them directly, and search their archives, files, and databases.

 Best of luck!