Start your adoption journey
Whether you’re just beginning to explore adoption or ready to take the next step, we’re here to guide you. Learn about your options and the requirements to adopt in Alaska.
Take the next step
Attend orientation
Begin your journey by attending an orientation. Choose between our online orientation or a live virtual session. Learn more about the options for orientation, find live session dates, and get started today. Our partners at Heart Gallery of Alaska also host an orientation which satisfies the state licensing orientation requirement. Learn more about Heart Gallery Adoption Orientation.
Become licensed
All families must become licensed, whether on the path for adoption or foster care. Becoming licensed requires the completion of a foster care application, a clear background check, and a home visit by an Office of Children’s Services (OCS) licensing worker. To start the licensing process, follow the OCS directions for submission.
Take the adoption learning path
Prepare yourself and your family by learning everything you can. People interested in adoption are encouraged to complete a series of five central training courses:
Finalization and the future
As you move toward finalizing your adoption, it is important to familiarize yourself with the legal details of finalization as well as support for the future, such as adoption subsidies. View these resources to get started:
- The legal details of finalization teleconference
- First steps through finalization guide
- Subsidies 101: Understanding adoption and guardianship subsidies
Contact us to connect with your ACRF adoption support specialist and get support in finding an adoption attorney.
Connect with us to learn more about adoption
Thank you for your interest in adopting a child.
Fill out a short form to receive more information and be added to our contact list. You’ll get occasional updates with resources and ways to get involved.
Frequently asked questions
All Alaska residents who are 21 and older can adopt a child or youth from the state’s custody, regardless of marital status or sexual orientation.
Four different types of non-relative adoption are available for Alaska residents: private adoption through a private organization, adoption through state child welfare agencies or foster care, international adoption, and Tribal adoption. Our services are centered around adoption from state custody.
In most cases, yes. Because reunification is the initial goal for a child, visits between parents and children are an essential part of the efforts to reunite families. The child’s caseworker has the primary responsibility for planning visits and arranging supervision, if required. The caseworker will talk with you and the child’s parents to work out the time and location of the visits.
Yes, military members can adopt, and we thank them for their service. However, we recommend that parents consider how military assignments and transfers might potentially impact timelines for placements and finalizing adoptions.
Adoption costs vary, depending on the type of adoption applicable to the situation.
Adopting a child in the state’s custody can be nearly free due to available financial assistance through the Office of Children’s Services (OCS). Furthermore, OCS will pay for the home study and legal proceedings required.
Additionally, parents adopting children or youth with special needs may qualify for additional subsidies. In qualifying cases, a federal income tax credit is available to offset adoption-related expenses upon successful adoption finalization. You can also check with your employer about employee adoption assistance programs.
Private and international adoptions can range in cost from $10,000 to more than $40,000.
The 2,500-plus Alaskan children experiencing foster care range in age from infant to older teenager. While many of these children and youth will reunite with their families of origin, many will need a permanent home via adoption. Those children and youth actively looking for an adoptive home are considered legally free, and most of those in this category are older children or are part of a sibling group.
In Alaska, the legal definition of special needs adoption refers to any situation where a child faces challenges in being adopted. This can include “physical or mental disability, emotional disturbance, recognized high risk of physical or mental disease, membership in a sibling group, racial or ethnic factors, or any combination thereof.”
Yes. By law, state agencies cannot bias placements by race though they are required to recruit a wide pool of diverse families. However, private and international adoption agencies can have preferential placement policies with multiple selection criteria such as race, religion, marital status and age.
If a child is a Tribal member or eligible for membership in an American Indian or Alaska Native tribe, the Indian Child Welfare Act will apply to adoption preferences. ICWA is based on Tribal citizenship and enrollment, not race, and there is a preference in law that Tribal children be placed and adopted by relatives or other Tribal families.
Children or youth who are members of Alaskan Tribes can be adopted through Tribal adoption. Tribal adoption can be available via child welfare agencies and foster care or through private adoption. For those Tribal children and youth in the protective system, the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) guides placement of children who qualify as Tribal members and provides Tribes legal status to be involved in adoptive placements and decisions.
There is a legal preference to place Alaska Native and American Indian children with relatives or with Tribal members or members of other Tribes. Tribes must approve adoptions of Alaska Tribal children by non-Tribal families.
Check out our Alaska Native supports for Tribal contacts, resources, and more information.
All families and individuals willing to love and support a child are encouraged and supported to adopt.
Timelines vary depending on the individual situation.
Adopting a child in the state’s custody often takes 12 months to two years.
If your family is adopting from a public agency, has already completed a successful home study, and has a child or youth placed in your care, the timeline will likely be closer to six months for finalizing adoption.
Private adoptions can take two years to four years for infants.
Yes. Alaskans can adopt from other states through private adoptions and adoption exchanges. States usually require adopting families already be licensed foster parents or to have a completed adoption home study, but requirements vary by state.
Placement of any non-relative child across state lines requires completion of paperwork to satisfy the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children (ICPC).
A home study is a comprehensive assessment of an adoptive home and is required for most adoptions. A home study assesses the current family constellation and the family’s capacity to successfully support and integrate an adopted child or youth. A home study can be specific to one child or youth, or it can be completed prior to a child being identified.
The Office of Children’s Services (OCS) provides free adoption home studies for children or youth adopted from state’s custody. Parents can purchase the home study assessment required for international, private, and out-of-state adoptions by hiring an OCS-approved adoption agency or independent home study writer. Contact us for a current listing of approved home study writers.
Start with us! We would be honored to help you begin your adoption journey. The Alaska Center for Resource Families is a nonprofit agency providing free support, information, and training to assist families considering and pursuing adoption. Contact your local office today.
We also suggest checking out the Heart Gallery of Alaska which lists the pool of children and youth who are legally free for adoption and looking for adoptive homes.
