Your Journey to Adoption Starts Here
We find children waiting for families through our Adoption Program, offering expert support for families seeking to provide permanent, loving homes for children. Our trauma-informed, child-focused approach ensures stable placements and strong, lasting
family bonds.
Compassionate Adoption Services Tailored for Every Family’s Unique Journey
Adoptive parents provide a permanent home to children in need. Children become available for adoption when reunification with their primary parents is not successful and their parental rights have been terminated, either voluntarily or through a court order.
UMCF has a long-standing heritage in and around adoption. For more than a century, we have been helping to create permanent families through adoption. Our program operates with a dedicated adoption coordinator who handles inquiries and guides our clients through the adoption process. At UMCF, we strive to be the best possible fit for our clients.
We provide a complete continuum of adoption care, supporting families from pre-adoption and throughout the process, to comprehensive post-adoption services.
UMCF does not facilitate private adoptions. Adoption efforts are focused on youth who are available for adoption that are involved in the foster care system. Due to this, the youth in need of adoption are school aged or older and may have complex trauma with mental health, behavioral and/or medical needs.
If you are only interested in accepting youth in your home who are available for adoption, please see associated costs for becoming approved for adoption.
FAQs
Explore our adoption services and find answers to common questions.
Who can adopt?
Anyone 18 years of age or older who can provide the necessary documentation for the home assessment is eligible to adopt. Legally married couples or single individuals are eligible. A criminal background check, fire inspection, safety audit and medical examination are also required.
What are the training requirements?
Prospective adoptive parents are required to attend 24 hours of training referred to as, Pre-Service Training. Training is offered through UMCF on a quarterly basis. Training schedules are available to view on our social media platforms. This training must be completed before a home assessment can be approved.
What is a home assessment?
A home assessment is a combination of collected information and interviews that are compiled into a document that represents your family. A certified adoption assessor meets with your family to assess items such as child rearing skills, life experiences, and strengths to determine the type of adoptive child each individual could best parent.
What if I already have a home assessment?
UMCF will work with your current agency to facilitate a transfer at your request.
What adoption opportunities does UMCF provide?
Our primary focus is identifying and placing waiting children through our Foster and Adopt Program and our Adoption Only Program. A waiting child would be any child in the permanent custody of a county children services agency. There are about 102,000 children awaiting adoption in the U.S. and many of these children have special needs to consider such as being older, being a part of a sibling group or requiring counseling to deal with emotional or behavioral struggles.
Am I able to adopt children who live outside of Ohio?
UMCF will assist you in facilitating the adoption of children in Ohio and can also help you by facilitating (through an Interstate Compact) placement of children residing outside the state of Ohio.
Is there financial assistance available?
UMCF does not offer any financial assistance; however, we are able to support you in navigating the options that may be available to you. In the case of adopting a waiting child, adoption subsidies may be available through the custodial agency. Financial assistance may also be available through your employer. Federal tax credits may also apply. Our adoption fees start out at $2,250 to initiate your home assessment. You can find a full list of our adoption-fees here. Families may arrange a payment plan with our agency at their convenience.
Does UMCF offer support to adoptive families after adoption is finalized?
UMCF does not offer any financial assistance; however, we are able to support you in navigating the options that may be available to you. UMCF offers families counseling, psychiatry services, and respite in support of their adoption journey.
How do I get started?
The first step in the approval process is contacting our Adoption Specialist to learn about our Adoption Program and answer any questions you may have. Our Adoption Specialist will connect you to the application for Pre-Service training. Through the Pre-Service classes, you will learn more about beginning the home assessment process and the various options to build your family through adoption.
Resources & Links
Foster Care and Adoption standard rules: UMCF holds an active approval and certification to provide both Foster Care and Adoption Services for the State of Ohio for the minimal standard rules that govern our business practices view Policy 5180:2-5
Standards for Provided Adoptive Care: As Adoptive Parents are approved to care for children in their home, they also are held to a standard in providing care for children as detailed in Policy 5180:2-48